


FFxivWrite 2020 Submissions

by rejah_tavi



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Alchemy, Au Ra Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), Battle of Carteneau (Final Fantasy XIV), Black Mage Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), F/F, Fantasia, Fantasia (Final Fantasy XIV), Fantasy HRT, Female Miqo'te (Final Fantasy XIV), Female Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers Spoilers, Gen, Gender Dysphoria, Gender Identity, Miqo'te (Final Fantasy XIV), Miqo'te Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), Mother-Daughter Relationship, Multi-Classed Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), Multiple Personalities, Multiple Warriors of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), Named Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), Original Character(s), Other, Paladin Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), Patch 5.0: Shadowbringers Spoilers, Patch 5.3: Reflections in Crystal Spoilers, Phial of Fantasia, Pre-Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, Sharing a Body, To Be Edited, Trans Female Character, Trans Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), Transgender, Tumblr: FFXIVwrite2020, Two Minds One Body, Warrior of Light Is A Shard of Azem (Final Fantasy XIV), White Mage Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-03
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:20:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 27
Words: 42,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26263318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rejah_tavi/pseuds/rejah_tavi
Summary: My entries for FFxivWrite2020 -- https://ffxiv-write.carrd.co/Stories about my reckless WoL, Rejah Tavi.When Ardbert offers up his portion of their shared soul to enable Rejah to fight Emet-Selch, she decides she doesn't want another sacrifice. She does what she can to make sure he's still around after the process, but they both end up with a bit more awkwardness to work through than they intended.Inspired by that one cutscene in 5.3 that made me cry way too much, and got me thinking, what if my WoL could call ardbert forth any time she wanted? What if they were both in there all the time, bantering back and forth like siblings? And then I had to write some of it xDI intend to reformat and consolidate all this into a more traditionally formatted fic later on. For now, this is just a place for me to participate in FFxivWrite2020 and get a bunch of my rambling rough drafts and other ideas actually written out, hopefully to draw from and revise later.Don't expect any particular chronological order or proper plot structure, because you definitely won't find it here. :)
Relationships: Ardbert/Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), Scions of the Seventh Dawn/Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), Warrior of Light/Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV)
Kudos: 29





	1. Prompt #01: "Crux"

[SPOILER WARNING: SHADOWBRINGERS 5.0 MSQ] 

  
  
  


\----- Capitol Building Roof, Amaurot ----- 

Warm hands wrapped around my wrist. "Rejah?!" 

Still reeling and dissociative in the wake of Emet-Selch's defeat, I looked to the source of the voice. 

Alisae repeated herself, "I said, how are you feeling?!" My young Elezen friend was wide-eyed and worried. 

"Best not keep her waiting, my friend," came a familiar voice from within. Oh. Right. _Ardbert_. This... was going to take some getting used to. 

I shook off my stupor and pulled myself back into the here and now. I smiled and pulled Alisae into a tight hug, wrapping my tail against her side for emphasis. I released her only to find myself surrounded by the rest of the Scions. 

Y'shtola examined me curiously through closed eyes. "Your Aether!" she exclaimed, "It is... it is as it used to be?" She paused, momentarily deep in thought, "I can but assume that the Ascian served as the darkness to your light... and when you set your strength against his, the Light within you was spent?" 

"No," interjected Ryne, hand outstretched in attunement, "It's more than that. Under the strain of that incredible flood of Aether, your soul had begun to break apart. Yet now, it seems somehow... restored? How is that possible? I tried to help you before the fight, but Emelt-Selch stopped me. So how did you... what did you...??" 

I smiled and shrugged. Ardbert and I were clearly going to have a lot of explaining to do, but neither of us had any intention of that just yet. We were going to need time to come to terms with our new situation, to understand it ourselves, before we could ever hope to explain it well. 

Y'shtola leaned in, uncomfortably close, and examined me through squinted eyes. Clearly, she was already attempting to unravel the crux of this "mystery." 

I realized with a modicum of dread that as soon as our secret was out, we would probably become her and Krile's next big aetherology research project. Twelve forbid. 

Y'shtola continued, "I see what you mean, Ryne, and yet, there is more. Quite literally - she is denser than before!" 

"Well that's a bit rude, don't you think?" Thancred quipped, earning a slight laugh from me and Alisae. 

Y'shtola was unmoved by Thancred's attempt at levity. "I do not mean to cause alarm, dear, but there is still yet a discernible surplus of aether within you, but there is no trace of the corrupted Light... I should like to examine you with a proper aetherometer when we return to the Crystarium - if you would permit me." 

I swallowed nervously. I was tempted to try to quell her curiosity then and there, but I - I mean _we_ \- weren't ready. Not until we'd had a chance to figure out what it even meant to _be_ a _we_ , preferably in private. So instead, I merely gave a noncommittal shrug. 

Y'shtola fell silent, no doubt puzzling over her observations. 

"Can you tell us what happened?", Ryne prompted. 

I glanced back, uneasy and overwhelmed, at the dissipating remnants of the blade of light Ardbert and I had forged from the Lightwardens' corrupted aether. Everything had happened so fast - We hadn't been sure we'd be able to win, much less come out the other side hale and whole. I sighed heavily. 

Ever the expert at reading me, Thancred came to my rescue. "Ryne... let's give our friend some space. I imagine she'll need more than a moment's respite before she can put her words in order. Save it for the Ocular debriefing." Then he glanced pointedly at the Exarch. "Which we will do _tomorrow_ at the earliest, you hear?" 

I beamed at Thancred in thanks. 

"Of course," the Exarch began. "But... Oh, where to start... I do believe I owe you all an apology... And you, Rejah, most of a-oof!" 

My hug cut him off. "G'raha! You've _nothing_ to be sorry for." To emphasize my point, I flared brightly, my whole being thrumming in resonance with the post-battle ambient aether. I siphoned a generous amount in, and channeled it through his body, chasing it with my mind to ensure it healed absolutely everything it possibly could. I threw in a secondary Esuna effect for good measure. With any luck, it would help restore enough of his stamina to help him make the arduous trip back. 

G'raha relaxed and returned the hug. I could tell that he was exhausted and would feel awful until he'd had proper rest, but I was confident that he would fully recover in time. Lyna would be pleased. 

"You are too kind, my friend..." He shuddered. 

"Let's get back to the Crystarium, we're _all_ going to need rest," I suggested. 

"You'll hear no argument from me!" Thancred offered. He gently pulled G'raha aside and supported him so that they could walk together. 

As everyone else followed, Urianger held me back, that we might take up the rear of the procession. 

"Misstress Tavi," he addressed me, "Full glad am I to witness thy apparently miraculous recovery. Prithee, what are thy wishes for the contingency?" 

"Our deal has not changed, _Secret Keeper_ ," I said solemnly. "The Sin Eater threat is ended, so we return to the original plan. We will work out the details after we are rested." 

"As you wish, my lady." Urianger bowed and waved me forward. "After you." 

I set off after the others, but it wasn't long before Ardbert spoke up in my mind. 

"What's all this about a 'contingency?'", he asked curiously. 

"Urianger keeps a spare crystal of white auracite with my name on it," I explained plainly. "I have attuned it to my own aether so that - hopefully - it will be able to penetrate any defense I can conjure. Had I failed to contain the Light, it would have been used to subdue me. The Scions and Feo Ul would have then delivered the new Lightwarden to Lyhe Ghiah, for containment as a new Titania until another solution to the infectious nature of the Lightwardens' Aether could be found." 

Ardbert recoiled at the morbidity of the whole concept. It was a solid minute before he regained his composure. 

"I think... I think I understand. You... sought to give them hope in the face of possible defeat?" 

"More than that," I answered. "It would have made it possible to mitigate the damage to the Source and Shards. Everlasting Light would have returned to the First, but a full calamity would have been forestalled, and the Scions and Exarch would have had a chance to come up with a new plan." 

"And this... original plan, you spoke of?" he followed up warily. 

"Urianger and I have held this pact since long before we came to the First," I explained. "Should it become necessary, Urianger will offer up his life force to forge a "blade of darkness", of sorts. Another Scion would then use the blade to pierce my soul... not unlike the attack we employed against Emet-Selch. With the aid of pre-attuned auracite, the hope is that the attack would bypass the Echo, the Blessing, and my defensive magics, rendering me truly vulnerable." 

A long silence followed. Eventually, Ardbert spoke up again. "Rejah... Forgive me. It seems I have underestimated you once again. You are much more than the mere adventurer I hunted all those years ago... And you fear that your strength is such that the scions would have no hope should you ever turn against them?" 

"Aye." 

"... Therefore, you've built a... safety, of sorts. A force of balance to keep you in check, to ensure that such a terrible thing can never come to pass?" 

He understood better than I thought he would. "Precisely. To ensure that my abilities can never be harnessed for ill intent... I choose to trust the Scions with my life. If at any point, at least two of them reach the conclusion that I am a threat and can no longer be reasoned with, and at least one of them is willing to give up their life to enforce that assertion... then I can be stopped." 

An uncomfortable silence set in and persisted for several minutes. 

"Are you regretting accepting the invitation to team up with your morbid alter-ego from the Source, yet?", I joked. 

"Not at all, Rejah. If anything, I'm encouraged that I made the right choice." 

I smiled wide, glad of his support. 


	2. Prompt #02: "Sway"

[SPOILER WARNING: SHADOWBRINGERS 5.0 MSQ + COMPLETION OF ALL ROLE QUESTS] 

  
  
  


\----- The Pendants ----- 

A knock at the door signaled the late-night arrival of the hot chocolate I'd requested. Pulling open the heavy door revealed Cyella, per usual. 

"Cylva..." Ardbert thought to me. 

"You know her?" I questioned back. 

"She... traveled with me for a time. Be careful," he replied evasively. 

Cyella tilted her head, "May I come in?" 

I took the hot chocolate, nodding, and waved her into the apartment, slightly nervously thanks to Ardbert's ominous warning. 

She closed the door behind her and took a seat next to me at the table, eyeing me intensely. "What was that, just now? That flash of concern? Have you peered into my memories with your 'special ability', my dear Warrior of Darkness?" 

It was my turn to look at her with surprise and quickly shook my head in denial. "No. Never. And as you are not my enemy, I'd tell you if I had." 

"Ha, don't look so surprised. Not much passes through the Crystarium without me hearing about it. Certain bounty hunters are _notoriously_ loose-lipped once you get some ale in 'em." 

I sighed. Giott. 

Cyella continued, "In fact, I've already heard the tales of how you and yours vanquished every last one of the Cardinal Virtues before you set off for the Tempest - and I feel the need to personally thank you." 

"It was the right thing to do," I offered tentatively, "Thanks are hardly necessary." 

"Of course, I would expect no less than such admirable humility from the Warrior of Darkness herself. But, I do owe you some explanation," she retorted. "After all, it was _I_ who set up the contracts on the Virtues and pointed our bounty hunting friends in your direction. I had my suspicions that you would be the one to end the Virtues' suffering." 

She paused gravely and glanced meaningfully out my open window at the night sky beyond. 

"But, all that said... you have yet to vanquish the final foe in this tale. One I have not shared with the hunters. No... I would give you this contract directly. I would tell you of a demon that yet lives, though it deserves death far more than even the Virtues or Lightwardens you have slain thus far. This demon is the one who set into motion the events leading up to the Flood. I assume that such a tale might pique your interest?" 

It did, but to my surprise, her question had Ardbert _itching_ to speak. He didn't even have to tell me, I could feel that he was desperately holding back, just under the surface. "A moment please, Cyella." 

She nodded with a curious look in her eye. 

I smiled weakly at her, then gave Ardbert a mental nudge of encouragement, which he met with complete surprise. 

" _Wait, What?_ You want me to -- _Are you sure?_ ", he thought to me, startled. "It's not my place, nor is this my life... I had my run, you know? I don't want to impose..." 

I sighed and looked down. Out of habit, I cast a quick Modified Esuna on the hot chocolate as I swirled it in the mug. I probed the aetheric returns for any anomalies. As expected, they came back clean. The Exarch and Cyella had sworn, after all, that as long as she personally handled my orders, every delivery would be safe. 

"Ardbert," I began internally, "I know you weren't planning on surviving our rejoining. You told me so before I agreed to it. I have lost far too many friends of late... It would have weighed heavily on me to lose you too, especially after I had only just begun to consider you one of my best friends. Full glad am I that we are able to coexist at all. So rest easy, you're at no risk of becoming the burden you fear yourself to be." 

Cyella leaned on the table, ever patient, but clearly eager for my response. I took a tentative sip on the creamy drink. Damn. Still too hot. 

Ardbert took a moment to think. "So... You're saying... That you _wanted_ this? That you really don't mind that this is how things turned out?" 

I nodded inwardly. "It's the best possible compromise, all other options resulted in one or both of us dying. I'm okay with it, truly. It might be awkward right now, but we'll get used to it. We defeated Emet-Selch, and both of us survived. All of my friends came home safe at the end of the day. That's all I've ever wanted. All I could ever ask for. Ha - you even get to touch and taste again, in a roundabout way, and I can still talk to you! All wins, in my book." 

I could sense Ardbert's argumentative side bubbling up, so I continued. "Ardbert, _please..._ Before you say anything else: You are welcome here, and always will be. I swear it! I doubt our rejoining would have been possible if that weren't the truth. So, please. Go ahead. I'm _asking you_ to take over. Say whatever you will. You clearly know her better than I, so I'm handing you the lead on this one." 

I retreated into the background as I'd only done a couple of times before. He came to the front, sending me a sheepish mental thanks. We were hit with a brief pulse of headache as we swapped places and unavoidably grimaced slightly, piquing Cyella's curiosity. It was done. Ardbert was in control. It was a strange feeling, existing in a body that was presently being piloted by another. I could tell that Ardbert was still nervous as he began to speak aloud with my voice. Our voice. 

"Cylva... Cyella. I... we?", Ardbert began haltingly. He took a deep breath and started over. "What I mean to say is... The person who sits before you is no longer just Rejah Tavi, Warrior of Darkness, Mystel of the Source. _I_ am here too... and I'm glad to see you alive and well, my old friend... No doubt you won't have recognized me, but... it's Ardbert." 

Cyella bristled and stood with her palms flat on the table, knocking her stool to the floor with a loud clatter. "You would _dare_ mock his memory!? Why?" 

Her eyes scanned like a wild predator, searching us for weaknesses. I didn't understand the severity of her reaction, but I trusted Ardbert to continue. 

"Cylva, Relax. Rejah doesn't yet know that the demon of which you speak is you yourself, _Shadowkeeper!_ And even now that I've said it, you'll still not find the end you seek. You won't find it at her hands any more than you found it at mine back then." 

Cyella's shoulders fell, and her lip trembled. "What? I haven't even explained - And you were supposed to..." 

My heart leaped into my throat at the unfolding drama, but I resisted the urge to retake control. I _needed_ Ardbert to know he could trust me, just as much as I trusted him. 

"Rejah and her friends have a lovely motto." I heard us continue. _"'For those we have lost, for those we can yet save!'_ , it goes. Don't you see? She too would have refused you the axe back then, and would refuse you the spell now! _I forgive you, and once I explain everything to Rejah, I'm sure she will too!_ If that weren't true, I couldn't have allowed myself to rejoin with her." 

"Rejoin?!" Cyella blurted incredulously, eyes widening. She swayed on the table and winced. "I mean - You mean to say - _Agh!_ " 

She gripped her forehead and cringed, lowering herself to her knees with only one hand grasping the table's edge for support. I recognized the symptoms instantly. All too often I experienced the same. 

_"She has the Echo?"_ , I asked internally, surprised. 

"Aye," came the reply. "She was a Warrior of Light of sorts, same as the rest of my friends, back then. The difference was, Elidibus got to her. Brought her here from another shard, then fed her his lies to fool her into doing his bidding. That bastard will do anything, and more, to bring about his damnable Ardor." 

I nodded grimly. This I knew well, and Elidibus would pay. He would pay for this and much more, but it would have to wait. 

Ardbert tried to move us to support Cyella in case she fell but doing so resulted in naught but wobbling and shakes. He nearly dropped the cocoa in the process of setting it on the table. Once recovered, he gave up, having set us back down. 

Ardbert laughed at himself. "Heh... I don't think I'm used to your balance. Or the tail. Or having a physical body, for that matter. Would you...?" 

Before he'd even finished, I stepped to the front, enduring the brief headache of the switch, then took us to Cyella's side. All the while I giggled inwardly at him. "We'll have to work on your coordination later. Preferably someplace where nobody can see us fall on our ass," I quipped. I was rewarded with a hearty laugh. 

"Good idea, sister." he snarked. 

"Oh, 'Sister,' is it? Hm. I think I like that. Siblings it is." 

"It does kinda fit our situation, doesn't it? Siblings, then." 

We smiled inwardly at each other as Cyella began to recover. I helped her up as she shook off the last traces of the Echo, then thought better of standing up too quickly. She knelt again, bringing herself to an oddly submissive pose, just below our eye level. 

"I... I see. I witnessed your fight with that... monster. You fought him together... and took him down, no less, against all odds. Good." She took a deep breath and sighed. "Gods damn it all... Two fragments of the selfsame soul... I knew there was something _familiar_ about you... Why couldn't I figure it out? Damn it!" 

She punched the floor, winced with a hiss, and her knuckles came back split and dripping. She breathed heavily and covered her face with her bloodied hand in shame. "Still... this changes nothing. I _do_ deserve death, whether you two agree or not." 

After a moment she dropped her hand and flicked her eyes to mine, intensely. "But very well. If you would not grant me my end, then the remainder of my life is in your hands. Whatsoever the two of you judge appropriate for my atonement, by your wills, it shall be done. This I swear on the stars of the returned night, my Warriors of Light and Darkness." 

With that, she bowed, exposing the back of her neck to us. 

Taken aback, I began, "Well... we'll need time to prepare, but I think I know how you can help..." 

Then Ardbert interjected, "I agree wholeheartedly." 

Finally, we said in unison, "When the time comes, help us spread the _truth_ to every corner of Norvrandt." 

"Hah," Cyella raised her head and gave us a weak, muted smile. "Now that... That's somethin' a tired old bar wench can do." 


	3. Prompt #03: "Muster"

[SPOILER WARNING: SHADOWBRINGERS 5.0 MSQ] 

  
  
  


\----- The Pendants ----- 

"So... what are you making?" Ardbert queried from within. 

I fiddled with the first flame adjustment on the multistage alembic I had built against the wall of my suite in the Pendants. "It's called 'Minor Fantasia,'" I explained. "This recipe is the best modern approximation of an ancient Nymian substance known as 'True Fantasia' or simply 'Fantasia.' 

"Nymian? I'm unfamiliar," he admitted. 

"Nym was a powerful civilization on the Source around 1,600 years ago, like your Ronka. They were known for their alchemical expertise, as well as a strong relationship with the few remaining Fae on the Source. They fell during the Sixth Umbral Calamity." 

"I see. And what's this 'Fantasia' _do_ , exactly?" 

"I'll get to that, but I think I should explain something else first," I said, applying fresh grease to a leaky coaxial seal I found on the fractionating tower. "My body - Or I guess, _our body_ now, doesn't have a natural form I am comfortable with. It was born with a boy's appearance, but in my mind, I've always been a girl." 

Ardbert was surprised. " _What?_ But... I'd never have guessed? Even ages ago, when we were adversaries." 

"Thank you, and I should hope so. I've worked very hard at it," I stated pridefully. "It took far longer than it should have, but eventually I mustered the courage to explain my desires to my Ma when I was growing up. I will ever be grateful for her response -- she fought for me. She went against Matriarch Talah's wishes, even risked expulsion from Clan Molkot entirely. That my mother was their only Alchemist and surgeon at the time was probably our only saving grace from the full extent of Talah's wrath." 

"This Matriarch... she didn't approve of your desire to be feminine?" Ardbert asked nervously. 

"Nay, far from it. We Miqo'te are heavily skewed in our gender balance; only one boy is born for each several girls. I was the first 'boy' in many years for our clan, and Talah Molkot was dead set on the firstborn son of Rukoh Tavi playing the role of a wandering political pawn, visiting Coeurlclaw tribes and siring daughters to cement Molkot immunity from their harassment - I would, of course, have to learn my mother's art and keep the Coeurlclaws supplied with ample potions as well." 

"I take it that's not the sort of life you imagined for yourself," he mused. 

"Not even close," I laughed, "I imagine you can relate to the immense wanderlust I felt as a child. Being restricted to running around one specific corner of the twelveswood as a political pawn and often-absentee father figure did not appeal to me in the slightest." 

I frowned, noticing some faint staining at the bottom of one of the interstage flasks. This wouldn't work at all, if there were even _trace_ contaminants in the system. As I worked to disconnect it for cleaning, I explained further. "Talah's efforts to convince me to fulfill her designs were for naught, of course. My wanderlust could not be quelled, and that only further fueled my desire to be seen as feminine. You see, boys are rare enough among my clan that it was considered taboo, too dangerous for such 'valuable individuals' to go adventuring. They wander frequently, aye, but never far outside Moonkeeper territory, and even then, _always_ under the protection of a group of huntresses." 

I paused to focus on washing out every last bit of debris from the offending flask. I wanted to make absolutely sure it was clean. Once I completed the task, I continued with my story. "If I didn't want to be scorned by Moonkeeper adventurers I encountered on my travels, I thought, I would _need_ to be seen as feminine. I leaned hard into that logic at first to help me explain why I wanted such a thing to Ma. Of course, I would later meet _many_ male Moonkeeper adventurers on my travels who hailed from places beyond the twelveswood, so the whole idea was bunk anyway but I had no way to know that. Our clan was pretty insular and traditional in that regard. In the end, though, _none of this_ was the most important reason for my desires." 

"Which was...?" questioned Ardbert. 

"Puberty was going to make me crazy otherwise." I threw out bluntly. 

Ardbert snorted. 

I giggled at his reaction. At that moment, I almost wished he had his ghostly form back, just so I could see the whole-body flinch that would have accompanied that reaction. "I hated shaving. I hated the markings between my eyes. I hated everything below the belt. It all drove me absolutely up a tree." 

"Even the tail?" He quipped, still laughing. 

"Well, yes, but for _different reasons!_ You'd hate growing one too -- It aches and itches like the seventh hell, and the damn thing has a mind of its own, giving all your emotions away for the world to see, till you learn to subdue it! Although..." I flicked my tail up in front of us and wiggled it a bit. "It's just a normal thing nowadays. Can't really imagine not having it." 

Now he was cackling at my antics. "Its a shame then, that you subdued your tail, but never learned to control your ears!" 

I laughed at his audacity. "Hey! I'm working on it..." 

"No offense, sister," he shook his head at me internally, "but I've always been able to read your ears like an open book." 

I grumbled, then realized I'd flattened them reflexively at his implication. Which only made me grumble harder. 

"Ahahaha! See what I mean?" he bragged. 

"You're insufferable, you know that?" I said sarcastically. 

"Aye, and you wouldn't have me any other way," he teased. 

I rolled my eyes and said nothing, because he was absolutely right, and I moved on to adjusting the next valve. The setup was almost calibrated. 

"So what did you do?" he prompted. 

"Repressed my feelings, mostly, until I couldn't take it anymore." 

"Ouch. For how long?" 

"Not terribly long. As I recall, I was fourteen." I disclosed. "It was the winter solstice, the night when the Greater Moon, Menphina, rises highest in the southern sky. She's the most important of the Twelve Eorzean Gods for Clansbound Keepers like myself. The solstice has always held special cultural significance for us. It's believed to be a night of new beginnings, and the best possible time to offer up prayers for the coming year." 

"Interesting. The Church of Darkness here in the First bore similar beliefs, as I recall. I learned in some of my early 'wanderings,' that they had taken to calculating the positions of the Moon and stars once they lost the ability to see them due to the Everlasting Light - I imagine your clan may have reacted similarly to such an occurrence," Ardbert speculated. 

"You may be right," I offered. "Scholarship is not exactly a high priority among my people, but enough of us chase book learning that I can easily imagine that, given such a priority, the skill to achieve it would spread quickly among the clans." 

"Ah, sorry, I've drawn us off-topic," he apologized. "Pray continue. What happened on this particular solstice?" 

"Matriarch Talah tried to pressure me into praying for 'many children' in my future, or somesuch nonsense. I was disgusted by the idea." 

"I bet she didn't take kindly to your inevitable refusal." 

"Aye, that's putting it kindly. I'd been raised to with a very powerful taboo against lying to the Goddess, and that helped me push back against the conflicting taboo of defying the Matriarch. The Goddess outranked her in my eyes, so I managed to tell her 'No', over and over, each time she demanded my assent. It was like 'no' had become the only word I knew how to say. I was _much_ too afraid of her to elaborate or offer my own prayers, but I did it. I resisted, and refused her manipulations." 

"Can't have been easy, stuck between a Goddess and an authority figure." Ardbert laughed. 

"Indeed. Fortunately," I resumed, "Ma came to my rescue and offered a much more generic prayer for my coming year, which I gladly repeated. When we got home, I finally broke down. I told her everything. How I wanted to be a girl, how I dreamed of travel and adventure, how I felt about my body, all of it. It was... difficult. It took some repeated explanations to help her understand -- but she never second-guessed me." 

"I'm sorry you had to go through all that. At least your mother was supportive." 

"Aye, that she was, and I'm ever grateful. She scraped together enough savings to take me on a trip to New Gridania soon after. There we met with a few alchemistry scholars, and Ma was able to learn a lot. Turns out my case was hardly novel. Transgender individuals aren't all that uncommon in the grander scheme of things, about one or two in a hundred. Though it lacks proper evidence, the common belief is that souls can have a strong preference for one gender or another and that though it goes alright most of the time, on occasion they do end up in the wrong bodies, courtesy of the lifestream's endless shuffling. Of course, now that I mention it -- our particular case might be evidence _against_ that idea, considering that we share a soul, but are as differently-gendered as can be. But I digress." 

Ardbert went unusually quiet. In the absence of questions or further prompts, I continued. 

"Shortly into Ma's research, one of the scholars we met kindly linkshelled a colleague in Ul'Dah, and arranged for the Minor Fantasia recipe to be copied and delivered to Bentbranch at a reasonable price. It took Ma a solid moon to master its intricacies and streamline the process to work with her antiquated equipment. Then she taught it to me, in exacting detail." 

"So this... Fantasia? It's a... transfiguration of sorts, isn't it?" He seemed nervous still, but genuinely interested. 

I laughed. "Ha, if only it were so easy. Unfortunately, there's no such thing. Not without delving into some very, very dark and forbidden magics - Magics such as the ones your Branden witnessed so painfully. Minor Fantasia is much more... subtle. The potion's alchemical matrix is imprinted by the user's desires, and once absorbed into the body, the encoded thoughts are used to modulate aetheric currents and divert restorative processes along a new tangential path." 

Ardbert was bewildered, "Right... You lost me. Could you... give me an analogy?" 

"Hmm... Nature is constantly trying to decay corporeal aether into the elemental elemental aether from whence it was made. To prevent this, our bodies consume _yet more_ aether to fuel restoration processes that counteract natural decay. A perfect balance between natural decay and corporeal restoration is necessary for all living things to remain healthy. We need to eat, drink, and breathe in order to maintain these processes and stay alive. Similarly, if the restorative processes malfunction, you can end up with diseases like cancer. Do you follow?" 

"It's been a long, long while since I read any books about aetherology or its applications to corporeal anatomy, but aye. I follow." 

"Okay. So, the restoration processes are constantly trying to return the body to a built-in 'natural form' or 'template' of sorts, which is something the physical body inherits from its genetic parents. Such is why children tend to have similar appearances to said parents." 

"Aye..." 

"Now, imagine you could _alter_ the body's stored 'template,' just a little bit. If you could do such a thing... then you could convince the body's own restorative processes to do your bidding -- within certain limits." 

"Hm. What kind of limits?" he wondered. 

"It won't cure aging, for one. That's a common misconception," I stated. "Aging is the result of the restorative processes themselves breaking down, not a decay of the template. When they break down enough, decay wins out, and we die." 

"... Or we can be killed if something causes enough damage quickly enough that the processes can't recover from it," he said morbidly. 

"Exactly. Furthermore, you can't use Minor Fantasia to become a different species or race, like True Fantasia supposedly allowed. The restorative processes won't tolerate such a large change; they'd break. In the best case of such an attempt, your body rejects the potion and you come down with severe aethersickness. Worst case, you die." 

Ardbert swallowed. "So this stuff is risky?" 

"On the contrary. It's only dangerous if undertaken without proper training or understanding of how it works. Done right, it's very safe, and the changes don't hurt at all. The trick is to only nudge your template a tiny bit with each dose, then give your body a week to catch up between. You approach your goals extremely slowly over many moons or years. Once you reach them, you keep repeating your final step to maintain your new form. Trying for too much at once is the most common mistake." 

"So... what all can it actually change? Safely, I mean?" Ardbert asked. 

"Things like hair color, eye color, height, skin tones, even gender -- all of these are well within the bounds of _Minor Fantasia,_ provided you approach things slowly and methodically enough. The catch is, the less you change at once, the easier it becomes to achieve and maintain good results." I paused, but then admitted: "That's why it's taken me _years_ to reach a point where I can truly say I am comfortable in this body." 

"I see. So, you have to focus on... what? An idea of what you want the current dose to do, and make sure it's not too much? And then hold on to that image, for how long?" he wondered. 

I was surprised that Ardbert had so many questions about how it worked, but I explained anyway. "That is... a simplified understanding of the process, but aye. And the thought need only be held for as long as it takes to drink it." 

"What happens if you stop taking it?" Ardbert wondered. 

"Oof, you don't want to go there. It _must_ be taken weekly to maintain the effect," I explained, "or else everything will start to go off course, and ultimately reset once the spell fades after a few weeks. If that happens... the bodily template snaps back to its original state, much quicker than the body can adapt." 

"I take it that's... not good," he inferred. 

"That is... an _incredible_ understatement. It's _extremely_ painful. Your body thinks something has gone terribly wrong, as if your entire body _itself_ is one large injury, and you rapidly succumb to the misguided efforts of your own healing mechanisms as they desperately try to "fix" you. Your body tries to rebuild itself from scratch over the course of a moon or so. Your hair falls out and regrows, you develop an incredible appetite but can barely keep anything down, you can barely sleep, you can't get comfortable, your muscles cramp, and even your bones ache. _If_ you're lucky enough to survive, you come out the other side a disgusting, depressed, disheveled mess, suffering from the worst dysphoria of your life. And even if you resume dosage, you're stuck back at zero. It takes _ages_ to recover all the lost progress." 

"It... almost sounds as though you speak from _personal experience._ " Ardbert sounded horrified. 

"Unfortunately... _I do,_ " I winced. "It was about a year before I first encountered you on the Source. I'd been framed for regicide and forced to flee to Ishgard, a city-state that had banned all but the most basic restorative alchemy, thanks to a horrifically dogmatic clergy. I eventually found ways to work around it and get back on my regimen, of course, but it took a lot of back-alley dealing and repeated favors to make it happen. And if it weren't for Tataru's abilities to make contacts in the underworld, I'd have been caught thrice over and tried as a heretic before even brewing the first batch. I learned the hard way that Ishgardian checkpoints are _brutally_ difficult to bypass without paying certain, uh, _'import fees,'_ We'll call them." 

"And here I thought you above petty bribery," he intoned sarcastically. He considered further for a moment. "I am thankful you had reliable friends to back you up... Gods know I miss mine. And I'm guessing that bribes aside, none of this comes cheap in the first place..." 

"Aye, two for two. It usually runs me anywhere from twenty to thirty thousand Gil per batch, if I have to rely purely on the markets to supply ingredients. It cost me four times that behind the gates of Ishgard. If it weren't for Ma importing seeds and then growing most of the ingredients we needed herself, we never would have been able to afford it when I was growing up." 

"Hardly seems fair, especially for those without the knowhow to make it themselves." 

"Indeed. Normally I keep the costs down myself by growing the needed ingredients in places I frequent on my travels... but I haven't had that luxury, here in the First. Some of the ingredients simply don't exist, and the ones I've tried to plant on my windowsill here in the Pendants have all withered and died in Lakeland's odd climate. So I have to travel back to the Source to acquire them." 

Ardbert fell silent and kept to himself, thinking privately. 

Meanwhile, I ground, mixed, emulsified, distilled, and titrated. The recipe was a dance I knew by heart, and whose steps I could gauge by the faintest whiffs of odor and the subtlest shifts of hue. I needed no measuring spoons; I could eyeball the mass of the powders with plenty enough accuracy. Such expertise is hard-won through repetition, and I had performed this reaction thousands of times. 

I was approaching the final stages of the process, when at last, Ardbert broke his silence. 

"You mentioned earlier, that you thought the two of us might be evidence _against_ that souls preferring a gender thing, right?" 

_"Aye, what of it?"_

"Well... I think you're wrong. I mean, I think... _Perhaps they're on to something,_ after all." 

It took me a moment to process that, and I set my tools down with a loud thump when it finally clicked into place. "Wait... You mean... _You too!?_ ", I accidentally said out loud in surprise. 

"Well, I don't know for sure? But I've been thinking about it a lot." he paused, considering. _"What I_ do _know, is that I don't mind this. Sharing this body with you, I mean _\-- Wicked white, that sounds weird to say --_ but, honestly: I was afraid I'd hate it at first, and the discomfort I feared never came."_

"...I see." Well, _this_ was certainly a welcome surprise. 

"In fact... I might even venture to say, It fits a bit better than my old one, I think." 

_"Really?..._ Well, I'm taking that as a compliment that I've done good work. Consider me flattered!" 

"Yeah, that's fair! You, I mean... _We look great!_ " Ardbert said with pride. 

I was floored. I smiled so hard I began to tear up. I'd been worried that Ardbert might want me to back off on Fantasia doses, once he knew what it did. I wasn't sure what I'd do in that case, because I was now viewing this as our very much _shared_ body. I was well aware that I'd given up exclusive rights to it from the moment I wished to save him during our rejoining. So it made me extremely happy to realize that physical changes wouldn't be necessary to ensure Ardbert's comfort. 

"I am... ecstatic that you feel that way. Do you want to try other names? Or pronouns?" 

"Whoa. Uh, I don't know. Not yet? Such things never really bothered me, but maybe they will, now that I'm... aware of things. So I'm not sure. Let me think about it for a while... until I say otherwise, let's just stick to the usual." 

"Sure. Take all the time you need; you'll receive no pressure from me. And you're always welcome to try out such things temporarily. Let me know anytime." 

"Thanks, Rejah. There's... no hurry, I think. Most people we run into, you've no need to introduce me anyway. I'm none of their business. You'll still just be simply Rejah to them. My name's not important." 

_"Only if that's what you want!"_ I objected. _"I'll tell the whole of both worlds about you, if you ask!"_

"I believe it," he chuckled. "I'm gonna need some time to think, is all... Back when I was adventuring? Things like whether I liked the shape of my body never really came up, you know? I barely thought about anything beyond the next problem that needed solving, the next village that needed saving. My body was just as much of a tool as my axe and armor. 'Twas naught but a means to an end. Even if I'd had the luxury of time to consider, you said it yourself, the ingredients to affect such things don't exist here." 

"I understand. But... hmmm..." My mind raced off on an independent, highly theoretical tangent. 

There was a beat of silence while we both thought. 

Ardbert spoke first. _"I've given you some big crazy idea again, haven't I?"_

I giggled lightly. "Hahahaha! _Yes._ I'm thinking that -- with my insights into how the process works on the Source -- it _might_ be possible to design an alternative recipe using only materials from the First. I bet some of the folks over at the Crystalline Mean could aid us with the more difficult, tedious parts of the research... If we can make it work, It could be a big boon to any trans individuals on this side of the rift." 

"I like the sound of that. Why not? It seems like a good use of our time for, you know, when we _aren't_ being threatened with one world-ending crisis after another." 

I laughed at that and smiled inwardly. Soon, the pale liquid in the output decanter suddenly shifted from a dull, silvery gray to a vibrant sky blue with suspended silvery particles. 

_"Yes! The first batch is done!"_ I exclaimed. 

I closed off the final valve and moved the output decanter off of the heat with some tongs. I glanced at the wall clock; it had only taken five bells from start to finish. About twice as long as usual, but it wasn't all that bad for a subpar alembic, hastily built from borrowed parts on short notice, and a bunch of rough old mortars and pestles that had seen better days. 

"We'll give that about half an hour to cool, then I'll take it before bed," I thought to Ardbert. 

_"Hmmm..."_ he intoned with worry. 

"What's wrong?" 

_"...Please_ tell me it tastes good." 

"Oh _hells no,_ it's absolutely disgusting, even with all the mint tea I'm gonna chase it with," I cackled. 

"Oh... great. _Just great._ " Ardbert whimpered. 


	4. Prompt #04: "Clinch"

[SPOILER WARNING: SHADOWBRINGERS 5.0 MSQ] 

  
  


\----- The Dying Gasp ----- 

My friends fell one by one around me. 

I had thought I could reach him, reason with him. 

If anyone could throw off the shackles of Tempering, it would be one of the Unsundered! 

I thought I could bring a bloodless end to this war, but I was wrong. I failed. Astraea and I should have taken him by surprise, attacked him at any one of the many chances he'd afforded us. 

I could barely hear anything over the raging of the Light within me. The Light I desperately needed to subdue and contain, if only for a few seconds, just enough to-- 

Thancred and Astraea crashed into the Ascian's defenses simultaneously. 

_Yes! Keep him distracted!_

Blades clashed. Spells were thrown. 

I blocked out the fight. I could not afford the distraction. I kept moving. Every step was torture. 

_Gotta get closer. Hit him with Light and Auracite. Forge the Lightwardens' vile aether into a blade. Destroy him... save two worlds._

Thancred cried out. Ryne pleaded something I could not hear, and the sounds of battle ceased. 

The dust and smoke cleared-- _NO!_

Astraea lay between me and the monster, motionless. My focus slipped. The Light snarled and seized the opportunity. 

A dagger of icy luminous pain crawled inch by inch up my side in the longest fraction of a second of my life. 

Agony. I was coming undone at the seams. 

_No! Not now! We were SO close!_

I glimpsed Astraea again through the flares of overflowing light. _I cannot let him get away with this._ I surged with a newfound resolve. 

I reached for the Echo - and clinched myself back together with all my might. I violently forced the Light back in, just when it thought it had won. The more I pushed, the more it hurt, but I pushed harder anyway. I trembled and teared up under the strain, and defiantly took another step. 

"And _You!_ , Why waste your final moments in futile defiance?", Emet-Selch taunted. 

_I will never let you win, monster. Another step. I can do it! And another--_

A whole new rupture splintered and spiraled around me, and I whited out. 

I didn't even feel myself hitting the ground. Everything but the icy burning of the Light was beneath my notice. There was only pain. I desperately pushed and pulled and twisted and strained the Echo in ways I had never dared to try before, but it barely answered me at all. 

_"Astraea! Ardbert! Feo Ul!"_ I screamed into the void. 

Mortal minds are not equipped for awareness of the foundation that is their own soul, much less to bear witness of it breaking apart beneath them. 

Thoughts were getting harder. I glimpsed my outstretched hand, as it spewed blades of sickly light in all directions. I was unraveling. It was over. Like trying to reassemble a broken jar around spilt milk, I had lost this struggle before it even began. 

And then something flared brilliantly, swirling midnight moonrise pastels of turquoise, blue, and purple up ahead. 

Unbelievably, there she stood. _Astraea._ Bloodied but proudly defiant, sprouting brilliant draconic aetheric wings of impenetrable protection around what remained of me. I heard her cry out, _"YOU'LL NOT 'AVE 'ER, Ye swivin' sack o' gobshite 'n bilge rats!"_

It was an opening. Not enough to win, but maybe enough to _not lose_ , either. 

_I will not become a monster._

I whited out again as I reached out for the most achingly familiar place I knew. 

The Bentbranch Aetheryte. 

In the vastness of my connection to the aetherial currents of the Source and Shards, aetherytes stood out against everything else like brilliant stars in the dark; constellations of places I have been, lands I have protected, people I have _loved._ And the boldest of all has always hung directly overhead. It was my Zenith, my North Star, my Pharos Sirius in the Lifestream. Even across the vastness of the interdimensional rift, even with all else drowned out in a flood of corrupted light, its comforting presence remained unmistakable. 

I hated this idea. But I was desperate, and here at the journey's end, I would gladly give myself up to save the friends I made along the way. It was a disgustingly simple plan. Head home, but wrench myself free of the aetherial current halfway. With any luck, the Light and I along with it would be smeared into a fractal web of disjointed streaks of aether stretching across the fabric of two dimensions. Naught would remain but the raw materials to be broken down and rebuilt into future life. 

The rejoining of the First would be stopped, and the 8th umbral calamity averted. Emet-Selch would have to start over. 

The Scions would recover, find a new champion, and oppose the next Ascian threat. The cycle could continue in my absence. 

I closed my eyes and reached out to my home attunement for one last time. I latched onto Bentbranch's comforting, flickering presence, and called upon it to guide me home, as I'd done a thousand times before. It sang back to me, loud and clear and reliable as ever-- 

But Astraea... _This would destroy her._ Should I wait, instead, and let Urianger use the contingency after all was said and done? Were I contained as a Lightwarden... could they possibly find a way to reverse the transformation? 

I hesitated, and let Bentbranch's beacon hang unanswered. 

Surely... _surely_ there had to be another way? Why couldn't I find it? My mind refused to work properly. I must... hold together. Cannot become a monster! 

But then a familiar presence tugged at the fringes of my awareness. My mind snapped sharply back into focus as he approached. 

"Ardbert? Where--?" I managed to ask aloud. 

He cut me off. "--Shh. No time. He knows I'm here. I couldn't get close 'til your Drahn put up 'er wings." 

I managed to lift myself slightly off the floor and look up at him. Somehow, I could still see him from within my white void. He gave a wicked smirk. 

"If you had the strength to take another step, could you do it? Could you save both our worlds?" 

What kind of question was that? "You know I could!" 

He held up his axe, "Take it", he offered. 

"What?" I completely failed to understand at first. 

He glared back with a conviction I'd never seen before. "We fight as one." 

My eyes flicked from the axe to him and back, scraping, grasping until his meaning finally fell into place. 

Oh. _Oh, no._ Hythlodaeus. Our common soul. _Rejoining._

"But -- You'll be drowned out, erased!" I protested. 

"Aye, I'd love to follow you around till the end, if I could, Rejah. Really would have liked to help you write that book. But let's face it. I'm long gone already. And we both know you'd do the same for me. So take it. Add my soul to yours, and use that strength to do what you do best: _Save our worlds._ " 

_Gods damn it all, it's happening again!_ I teared up, loathing that it was going to take yet another sacrifice in the name of the gods-damned Warrior of Light to make this work. 

I shoved the depressing thought aside. There was no time to deliberate, and it was undoubtedly a better option than what I'd been considering a moment ago. I shuddered at the thought. 

I gave Ardbert one last look of thanks, reached out, and welcomed him in. 

Ardbert dissolved before my eyes. His aether folded into mine and-- 

A tremendous blast of energy shot into the heavens and scorched the stone ground around my body, yet I did not burn. 

Emet-Selch laughed. Astraea looked over her shoulder, horrified. They must have thought the Light had won. Nothing could be farther from the truth. 

I flared with growing glee as the ravaging, corrupted Light suddenly found no purchase against my being. The cracks in my vessel healed rapidly, and as the last one closed-- 

_I became the Sun._

I saw the Lightwardens for what they truly were: pale, cold imitations of myself, corrupted and aspected to the astral beyond all hope of recovery. But I? I was Whole. I was balanced. I was Astral and Umbral and all six elements besides. _And I would see the False Light undone!_

A shockwave of brilliance radiated from me in all directions. The False Light was twisted and folded into submission, it's cold harshness drawn into me in an instant, giving way to the growing glare, the shimmering swirling sunrise spectrum of my newly rejoined soul.

In seconds, the Lightwarden's aether was once again fully contained, this time with plenty of room to spare. 

But it was a hollow victory. 

_Ardbert._ My friend. 

I was the greater part of the whole, and his mind had no chance against mine. He had been orphaned, cast adrift to disperse into the lifestream as my larger soul swallowed his out from under him. 

I frowned. _Unacceptable._

I've no idea how, but a vague idea of something to try crystallized in my mind. I reached out through the Echo in a way I'd never thought to use it before. I scanned through a billion, billion stray particles of aether and pulled back anything that felt like _him._ I cradled his presence back from the brink, swirling in a cloud of aetheric energies around me. "Stay with me?" I asked the collection of drifting motes that were all that remained of my friend. 

There was a brief hesitation, then they too rushed into my core with a tremendous _thump_ , a sort of impact I could feel in my chest. 

Immediately I gasped for air while his incredulous voice flooded into my mind. "What-- Where-- _Rejah?!_ " 

I was shocked that my desperate fumbling with the Echo had been successful. "Ardbert?! _Wait, That worked?!_ Hells, it's good to hear your voice. We'll figure stuff out later -- _Are you ready to help me fight?_ " 

"You daft, reckless fool of a Mystel!" he laughed gleefully. " _Aye! Lets be about it!_ " 

In unison, we turned our collective attention to Emet-Selch. I pushed us off the ground. 

He gazed back in shock - as if he'd seen a ghost. 

Standing tall, we called out, "This world is not yours to end. This is our future. Our story!" I drew my staff and planted my feet in a fighting stance. 

Astraea's jaw dropped, and her wings dissipated. She rushed back to our side and drew up into a renewed defensive stance. With a glance, I threw some healing aether in her direction to soothe her injuries. 

Astraea cackled with her recovering strength. "Aye, ye overgrown barnacle! We're fixin' to scrape you offa' these worlds, once'n fer all! They's ours, ya hear?" 

"No! You can't be -- You are _broken husks!_ Nothing more! How can you two, sundered as you are, even _hope_ to stand against me alone?" 

And then another surprise. "We stand together!" G'raha! 

"How -- I'm surprised you can stand at all.", Emet wondered, glancing at the other Miqo'te behind him. 

"I could not well leave matters half-finished!" G'raha said. "Let expanse contract, eon become instant! _Champions from beyond the rift, heed my call!_ " 

G'raha Tia slammed his staff into the ground and, one by one, nine ghostly specters materialized in a circle around us. 

In the shimmering aetherial flows that brought them to our side, I glimpsed it, just for a moment, and _understood._

_Four sunrise spectrums and five midnight moonrises, standing tall. All of them entangled in a celestial swirl of colors I had only just learned to see. Colors that whispered to me their stories -- A thousand, thousand deeds of heroism spread across the remaining sundered worlds. Where their stories intersected, they never failed to become friends, accomplices, or even lovers._

Our alter-egos were not wholly here, physically in the First, but it mattered not. Their presence lent us strength all the same. 

"Wait-- _are those--?_ " Ardbert wondered aloud, catching on shortly after I did. 

"Avatars of the missing pieces... both ours and Astraea's, Aye," I smirked, only half believing it myself. _G'raha Tia, you beautiful bastard._

Newfound confidence coursed through our veins. We glared at the Ascian. "We challenge you, Emet-Selch!" 


	5. Prompt #05: "Matter of Fact"

[SPOILERS: SHADOWBRINGERS 5.2 MSQ] 

  
  


\----- The Exedra ----- 

Despite the cool breeze that coursed through the inviting Lakeland air that morning, I was sweating nervously. 

Astraea came up behind me and rubbed my neck reassuringly. 

Throngs of Crystiarians slowly gathered at the foot of the Dossal Gate, coming to hear the story I had promised tell -- the _True_ story of the Warriors of Light. 

"You're not... _nervous_ , are you Rejah?" Ardbert chided. 

"A lot more than I should be. You'd think after being a public figure for years, I'd be better at it by now. But it always puts a lump in my throat all the same." I thought back at him. 

"Really? You're quite good at it. But... I could uh, give you a hand if you like?" 

I smiled inwardly. It was about time he got brave enough to bring it up himself for once. "Twelve, _please!_ 'Tis your story to tell, anyway!" 

"Are you _sure_ it's not an imposition? You keep... letting me take over like this. It's weird how free you are with it. I'm really not sure it's my right to--" 

"Ardbert! _Please!_ You have just as much right to be here as I do. I wouldn't have gone to all the effort to keep you around, had I minded any possible consequences." 

He paused. "So... You _didn't know_ it would work like this?" 

I laughed. "I suppose I didn't. As a matter of fact -- I didn't care _what_ the results would be like, as long as we could coexist in some form. That said, I _am_ glad we didn't end up completely blended together or anything like that." 

"I'm not sure if that's something that could have happened, or if you're just messing with me. Wait. _Don't answer that._ I do NOT want to know." He gave me a mental shrug of defeat. "I swear, you're thrice the reckless fool I ever was. I suppose I should just be thankful that it worked out... and pray that I can stop you from doing anything equally stupid in the future, you _absolute_ madwoman..." 

I smiled. "A 'hey Rejah, thanks for saving my life, even if shit's a bit weird' would suffice," I snarked. "I'm not sure what I was thinking... I just knew I couldn't lose you. Too many have already sacrificed themselves in my name. I wasn't going to add you to the list, not if there was another option." 

"Don't get all sappy on me, Rej. I might think you're going soft." 

"I'm always soft." I said, with mock offense. 

"Tch. So you are." 

Next thing we knew, Alphinaud was saying that it was time to begin, and Astraea was giving me a reasurring rub on my neck. 

After delaying to soak up Astraea's comforting touch, I finally shrugged her hands off my shoulders and gave her a meaningful wink, closing my red eye. It was a little code I'd come up with to let her know that I was going to switch out. Ardbert and I had told her everything, as soon as we were all rested from the battle with Emet-Selch. I didn't want to hide anything from her, not that I ever could anyway. However, the rest of the Scions had yet to be told. I hoped to spare them the stress of wrapping their heads around our situation until they were safely back on the source. 

With a mental nod to each other, I let myself sink into the background as Ardbert took over. He squinted and shook our head, and then he had control. The sensation was getting less jarring each time we did it. With a bit more practice, it would probably become seamless. 

Then Alphinaud addressed us. "Though I am usually the first to hold forth at such events, Rejah... I think, on this occasion, that the honor should fall to you." 

Y'shtola suggested, "They _would_ be more inclined to take the word of the Warrior of Darkness." 

Urianger agreed. "Indeed, in light of the subject matter, who better than thee to speak these truths?" 

_They've no idea just how right they are._ I mused. 

Ardbert eagerly and expertly began to tell the tale of he and his friends. It was strange, to hear the cadence of his style of storytelling spilling forth in my voice. Strange, but oddly heartwarming. _I'd done it. I saved him. And together, we're going to make sure that he and his friends are remembered properly._

\----- 

After he'd told his story in full, we were feeling quite good about the situation. The whole of the Crystarium had an unexpectedly positive reaction to the news that their mythos about the Warriors of Light was incorrect. They seemed remarkably ready to accept correction, but perhaps, that was only because the information had come from their savior, The Warrior of Darkness herself. 

Ardbert was absolutely beaming at me inside as I moved back into control. I thanked him with a thought. "You did that better than I ever could have. It _is_ your story, after all. And for the record, I think you had _far_ more right to tell it than I." 

"Well, I suppose you have a point. I just wasn't expecting you to share everything so... freely. You keep doing it, and it still surprises me every time. Even still -- I feel a bit like I'm trespassing somehow." 

I smirked and laughed softly. "Your concern is touching, but please, Ardbert: Let it go and _get used to it_ my friend. You're the one who swore you'd stick with me to the end, are you not? _I'm just holding you to your word!_ " 

"Oh, that's not even _fair!_ You've just been _waiting_ to use that one, haven't--" 

He faltered mid-thought, and icy shock raced down our spine. 

_Rejah. Do you...?_ " he intoned coldly. 

"Aye. I see it... Another virtue?" I wondered. 

"Nay... that would require traces of me left behind, from what you discovered about the fates of my friends. And obviously, that can't be the case." 

"You're right... then..." I thought. 

We both came to the same conclusion in unison. "An Ascian." 

"More than likely... _Elidibus_." I sneered. "I swear, we're going to get your body back, and give it a proper send-off." I promised. 

"Aye. I should like to have a pyre for it, so this sort of thing can never happen again," he said morbidly. 

"We'll see it through," I assured him. 

"Impossible!" Alphinaud exclaimed. 

"Oh good, so I'm not just imagining things." I snarked, now that our Elezen friend had seen our dead man walking. 

"I definitely see _something._ You don't think it's a ghost, do you?" Alphinaud worried. 

I shook our head and started to reply, but Urianger beat me to it. 

"Nay. Yonder standeth no bloodless apparition, but a Warrior of Light and Darkness both: _Ardbert._

"What in the world...?" Y'shtola wondered. 

I shifted in my armor and stood up straighter. I casually drew my staff and leaned on it, feigning tiredness, hoping to avoid provoking a response from the crowd. 

Internally I grimaced and rolled my eyes for Ardbert's benefit. "Gods damn it. It never ends." 

"No... I don't suppose it does." 


	6. Prompt #06: Free Write ("Permission")

Prompt #06: Extra Credit Day 1

[SPOILERS: SHADOWBRINGERS 5.2 MSQ] 

  
  


\----- The Ocular ----- 

After the monster wearing my new headmate's old body finished riling up the Crystarium, we retreated with the Scions into the Ocular to discuss the matter in private. It would not do to confuse the population with the complex and frightening details of our current suspicions. 

"So, that is a Warrior of Light of the First..." G'raha mused. "I have not had the pleasure of making his acquaintance, but as you all seem to be in agreement, I gather this is no simple case of mistaken identity." 

Beq Lugg looked confused. "As far as I was able to discern, that was indeed Ardbert. It has been a long time, but not _that_ long. Could he truly have been resurrected as he claims?" 

_"No. Absolutely not,"_ Ardbert and I shouted in unison, a bit louder than we'd intended. 

Urianger was taken aback. "Ardbert did entrust his very soul unto thee. I see no reason to question thy judgment." 

As was Y'shtola. "Nor I. To my eyes, your aether burns as brightly as the day you slew Emet-Selch. That is proof that he is with you still." 

I cradled our head in our hands, "Stop. Everyone... Just... Stop." Ardbert gave me a mental reassuring nudge. 

Astraea looked at me with worry. "Yer sure?" 

"Aye, love, There's no avoiding this little chat now," I said. 

I walked up on to the dais in front of the crystal mirror and turned to face my friends. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. When I snapped open my eyes, I explained with absolute conviction. "Ardbert still lives. That much is true. But our visitor was _not_ him. What you just saw is an _Ascian_ wearing my dear friend's discarded flesh," I began. 

Y'shtola crossed her arms and squinted suspiciously at me. "The latter I had already surmised -- but the former I find _very_ difficult to believe." 

"Are you ready to come forward and meet them?", I prompted Ardbert. 

"Aye. I reckon it's about time.", he confirmed. 

I returned my focus to the room. "When I told you that Ardbert was the reason for my survival and increased density... I left out one aspect of our rejoining. I did not want to add undue stress until after we found a way to safely return you all home but -- I... I couldn't let him go. _I wouldn't accept another sacrifice!_ Not if there was another option. I... invited him to stay with me, and he agreed. Our souls have merged, but our minds are still our own, and we now share this body. He is with me now, witnessing this conversation, and is ready to speak with you, should you ask it of us." 

This statement caused Beq Lugg to nearly explode with excitement. "Goodness! Let me see! Let me see!" She practically dove across the room to our side and began poking and prodding and examining us closely. They pulled out some sort of eyepiece in one hand and a small wand in the other and began muttering incantations. 

G'raha raised a hand and grimaced uncomfortably. "Ah - Ahem, Beq Lugg, my friend, perhaps we could _beg the Warrior of Darkness' permission_ before--" 

"Granted," I snapped, "Let them look. I know all present are evidence-minded individuals, let us have something concrete to back up my word. But while they proceed, allow me to explain further. Much of the battle is a bit... hazy... in my memory, due to the extreme duress, I imagine. But what I do remember is that when Ardbert and I agreed to rejoin, he was fully ready to sacrifice himself to save me. But I wouldn't -- couldn't leave it at that. I _must_ reiterate: This was _my_ choice. _Our_ choice. So fear not -- No one's will has been violated." 

Everyone looked at me somewhat in disbelief. Y'shtola most of all. "Of course one mind overriding another's control over a body is possible; after all that is precisely the nature of things such as Ascian or Voidsent possession. This much we already know. However --" She closed her eyes and thought deeply for a few moments. "-- You seem to be implying that not only is your case _consensual_ but also _cooperative_ , despite all prior examples to the contrary?" Her eyes snapped open. "And furthermore, you _admit_ that you, the _Warrior of Light_ of all people, would _willingly_ invite another into your mind!? How _dare you_ take such a risk with the fate of two worlds at stake! Do you _really_ think that was wise? What if it had been an Ascian trick?" 

I cast my eyes downward. I knew this line of thought would come up, and it frustrated me greatly. None of them had been there. There was no way for them to fully understand. 

Astraea jumped in, pointedly using an over-familiar tone with the Archon. "Shtola! Let 'er finish. She ain't _daft_ , an' I dun 'preciate ya treatin' 'er like it." 

Y'shtola's grey eyes flicked to Astraea and back to me. "Very well. What say you?" 

_"Ah. So that's why she's on edge."_ Ardbert commented internally. 

_"Aye, this is the exact sort of thing I'd been hoping to avoid. But if we have a new Ascian threat, they were going to be on edge anyway, and we would have been found out eventually. Trust me, whatever their reaction, its better that we revealed it ourselves."_

He nodded and gave me another nudge of encouragement. 

"Y'shtola. I won't apologize for a risk _I did not take._ I am full well aware of the dangers we face. But I swear to you -- It is him. You will just have to take my word that -- during the intimacy of that moment of rejoining, it was simply _impossible_ for me to mistake him for another, and I highly doubt our integration would have succeeded had it been otherwise. We are co-fragments of the same whole. We slew Emet-Selch _together_. I could not have survived the Light, much less achieved victory, without this rejoining, without _Ardbert_. He and I have been familiarizing ourselves and working through our new condition ever since, and I am _fully confident_ that we did the right thing, and will be _stronger for it_ in the long run." I answered defiantly. 

Beq Lugg chose that moment to burst out with excitement, apparently having found something with her instruments. "Ah! Incredible, just _Incredible!_ " they said, hopping back and forth between their feet excitedly. "Two minds cooperatively binding to a single, supremely dense soul, and absolutely no signs of contention or strain, possession or otherwise, between them!" they proudly announced, "Oh my, Oh my! This is _absolutely unprecedented_ in all my years of research. You seem to be in good health my dear, despite your most _intriguing_ structure! Remarkable! Oh, you simply _must_ explain how this was accomplished!?" 

"I wish I knew, Beq Lugg. But as I said, my memories of that day are not in the best of shape. I only know it involved our mutual cooperation and deliberate use of the Echo." 

"A true shame, then. But please, return when you have more time. I should very much like to examine you further -- any possible insights to be gleaned about the nature of the connection between soul and mind could be _invaluable_ for our research into spirit vessels!" 

"I've no problem with that," Ardbert confirmed internally. 

"Aye, we will come by as we have time. Ardbert and I are both willing to assist in your research." 

Y'shtola's eyes caught mine then flicked to Astraea, Beq Lugg, and back to me. "It appears I may have read overmuch into the situation and spoken out of turn. However, I must insist that should anything change with your... condition, that you notify the rest of us _immediately_." 

"Of course, Y'shtola. I would have told you upon arrival to the source, but the added threat of Elidibus changes things. His presence necessitated that I explain in full _now_. And I will most certainly keep you updated." 

The room fell into an uncomfortable silence, which I soon broke. "If there are no further questions or concerns, then -- I would like you all to officially meet him. And then we can return to discussing the matter at hand. Now then, Ardbert?" 

He gave me a nervous inward smile, then moved forward once more as I retreated into the back. We winced slightly, grabbed our forehead, and flattened our ears for a moment, and then it was done. 

"Ah! Hello everyone. As you've been informed, I'm... Ardbert. I'm... not quite sure what else to say, other than... I don't begrudge you any suspicions you may harbor. This is a strange situation, indeed, for us and for you. It was quite awkward at first, but... we're getting used to our arrangement now. I think everything will work out fine, and... Well, Rejah appreciates and admires each and every one of you a lot more than she lets on, you know? I've heard many good things and I'm looking forward to working alongside you." 

Mouths agape around the room told the story -- our friends hadn't been quite sure what to expect, and I don't think any of them expected something so... direct. 

_"How was that?"_ Ardbert prompted inwardly as we winced and switched back. 

_"You did fine. It may take a while, but we'll help them understand..."_ I said. _"I'm glad you're here, Ardbert,"_ I added genuinely. 

_"Glad to be here, sister."_


	7. Prompt #07: "Nonagenarian"

[SPOILERS: None] 

  
  
  


\----- Tavi Residence, Southern Bentbranch, 6AE 1561 ----- 

Talah burst into Ma's workshop without so much as a knock, and I dove for cover behind Ma's legs. The decrepit and ever-spiteful Matriarch of Clan Molkot absolutely _terrified_ me. There is _nothing_ anyone can ever do to be _good enough_ in her eyes, so I learned long ago to simply keep my head down, stay out of her way, and hope to not be noticed. My odd red and blue eyes grew wide as I cowered behind Ma, who didn't even flinch. 

"Madame Matriarch, it is generally considered polite to _knock_ or at the very least _announce one's presence_ before entering another's private residence." Ma said distastefully without even looking up from the alembic. 

Talah bristled at the insinuation that she'd done anything wrong, but ignored the slight. "Rukoh, my dear, we simply _must_ discuss your son's future. He is fourteen summers of age now, and I believe there may have been some confusion during the Solstice Ceremony--" 

Ma slammed down her tongs, cutting the Matriarch off. She extinguished the fire crystals heating the alembic with a dismissive wave, then folded her arms and turned to the much older Miqo'te. "Yes, I believe there was." 

One could have cut the tension in the air between Ma and Talah with a knife. 

"As I was saying, the boy is fourteen," Talah began. "It is high time he begins learning a few arts and takes up travel with a mentor, perhaps his father. I can understand that perhaps he is nervous about change, but we all--" 

"--Talah." 

Talah and I both flinched and looked at Ma. _Nobody_ was supposed to call The Matriarch by her first name. 

"My child is _fourteen_ ," she continued, "and I believe that is plenty old enough for _him_ to be the judge of what he wants." 

"Miss Tavi! I think you misunderstand. Rukoh'a _does not have a choice._ I am merely trying to be _curteous_ and mindful of his feelings, so he can be eased into this! There are _traditions_ that simply _must_ be upheld! I thought an encouraging prayer on the Solstice would go a long way to bridging that gap." 

"Encouraging?" Ma rebutted. "From the way he tells it, you asked him to _Lie_ to the goddess herself!" 

" _Excuse me?!_ I did not want lies!" Talah spat. "I wanted _him_ to _want_ what is best for him!" 

"No, you want the same thing you've always wanted, Talah. Whatever is best for your _reputation._ My son's life is his to live how he wants, and you _will_ leave him to it." 

"How dare you -- I have shown you great clemency in the way you have addressed me this morning, but if you _presume_ that you can instruct _me_ on the running of my clan--" 

"You'll expel us? No, I don't think you will," Ma said, calling the Matriarch's bluff. "Yours is not the only clan who can offer me and mine safety in exchange for my services. But by all means, if we are unwelcome, do let me know." 

Talah was raging internally. I could see it in her eyes, and the way her wrinkled old hands were clutched around the scepter she wielded for conjury. 

"We will continue this discussion later, Miss Tavi," Talah said coldly. With that, she turned to leave. 

"Madam Matriarch," Ma called after her. 

Talah froze and merely cocked an ear backward to listen. 

"I should also like to inform you that we will be out of touch for a week or so, beginning tomorrow. My son and I are taking a trip to New Gridania for... Alchemy research. I'll be happy to share any new insights with you upon our return." 

Talah nodded with simmering fury and swept out the door with impressive speed for a nonagenarian, her cloak trailing in her wake. 

Ma rubbed me gently behind the ears while she waited for Talah to get far enough out of earshot. "Don't mind her, kit. We're gonna get things sorted out for you, okay?" 

I smiled up at her and nodded. "Thanks, Ma." 

She smiled warmly back at me. "Anything for you, _Rejah_." 

The sound of the new name we'd picked together was music to my ears. 


	8. Prompt #08: "Clamor"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I've reworked a few of the previous chapters to clean them up, fix some lore inconsistencies, and add in some elements I thought of after the fact. If you're interested, perhaps go back and check them out again.
> 
> Comments and constructive feedback are welcome!
> 
> Thank you :3

[SPOILERS: SHADOWBRINGERS 5.2 MSQ] 

  
  
  


\----- The Pendants ----- 

My headmate was absolutely fuming. His ill mood was severe enough that it was -- somehow -- bleeding through into my own, and proving extremely distracting. 

"Ardbert." I snapped the book I'd been trying to read shut and let out a deep sigh. "...What do you want to do? We can't very well go out there and tell the _entire Crystarium_ not to be inspired by the Warriors of Light. Especially not when we've just begun to repair your reputation." 

"Ah... Sorry about that. I'm just... so frustrated. I really, really don't understand how you do it, Rejah." 

"Do what?" 

"Maintain a clear head while things are going sideways." 

I laughed. "Planning? Tactics? Research? In short... preparation. There's no sense in jumping to conclusions or unnecessary action if there is no immediate threat. I've always had the best luck by outsmarting and outmaneuvering opponents, making sure that I understand them better than they understand me. That's why I've been sifting through this stack of books -- I'm trying to find anything useful in the various surviving Vrandtian accounts of ancient Warriors of Light, just in case it reveals anything that could be possible motive for... whatever Elidibus' end game is here." 

"Bah, I never could sit still for that long," he said. "Always preferred honing my skills over reading a book, any day." 

"You do realize that I'm a caster, yeah? -- A large part of 'honing my skills' _involves reading books_." I chided with a laugh. 

"See, that's where you're missing out. There's nothing like taking out some aggression with a sparring partner. It's good for building trust and even better for blowing off stress when you're not sure what else to do. Sittin inside like this? It just makes me stew." 

"Twelve, Ardbert, you sound just like Astraea. Hells, just this morning she was complaining that none of Lyna's recruits could truly give her a run for her money, and Lyna's already spent too much time sparring with her personally to -- You know what, that gives me an idea." 

I smirked, set down my book, got up, and closed my eyes. I called out to the attunement I needed with a small pulse of aether. 

"Uhh, Rejah? Where are we going?" Ardbert Asked as the Ostall Imperative's Aetheryte sang back to me, loud and clear. 

I ignored him and answered the aetheryte instead. I attuned our body to the sound, allowing the resonance to build up and slowly lift us off the ground until -- 

Our vision cut out entirely. There was a feeling like plunging into lukewarm water, then an incredible sense of acceleration and speed as we were wrapped up in a thrumming wave of bassy energy and pulled through the lifestream to our destination in just a few short seconds. 

Our vision was restored in a blinding flash of our own recondensing aether. When everything came in to focus, we found ourselves standing at the Imperative. 

The watch on duty at the crystal snapped to attention when he recognized us. "Wa-wa-- Warrior of Darkness?! Ma'am! We were not app-ppraised of your coming!", the young hume stammered. 

"At ease, private. This is a personal trip." 

"I-i-if you're looking for La-- Lady Astralis, she's over by the barracks! ...Ma'am!" he stuttered before giving a slight bow. 

I gave him a full Crystarium salute in return, which made the poor kid blush ridiculously red. 

Ardbert laughed within. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were trying to make the poor kid faint. Now, what's so important at the Imperative, all of a sudden?" 

"Shhh. It's a surprise." 

"Wicked white, you _know_ how I feel about your surprises." 

"You'll enjoy this one, I promise." I cackled at him mischievously as I sprinted up to the barracks. Sure enough, Astraea was out front, drilling several new recruits in sword and shield technique. Each and every one of them looked absolutely exhausted, but all were performing the exercises in perfect sync. She was an excellent, but strict, teacher. 

" _Hey!_ " I shouted. 

Ardbert knew what was coming, and faded completely into the background, essentially asleep, leaving me alone with my wife. 

I sprinted to her and leaped into a tackle-hug just as she turned around. As expected, her drill-instructor facade fell apart just long enough for me to sneak in a quick kiss. 

"Whatcha doin' round here?" Astraea asked with a big smile and a little bit of confusion, then quickly added, "Not tha' I'm complainin'..." Then, when she realized she'd been mid-lesson, she snapped right back into drill instructor mode to bark a few orders granting the recruits a couple hours' reprieve. There was a bit of a clamor as they rushed to put their training weapons away and clear the yard before she changed her mind. 

Only once the recruits had retreated back inside the barracks and out of sight did she drop her strict facade. 

She turned back to me. "Yer in trouble, lass." 

"Oh? What for?" I blinked innocently. 

"You know what fer! And I reckon ye meant t' do it, too!" she retorted. 

"Meant to do what?" 

"Ya went an' got me all fluster'd in front o' tha' recruits!" 

"Hmmm... guilty!" I poked her nose, making her scrunch it up all cute-like. 

Then she rolled her eyes. "Rej... Theys needs t' respect me." 

"I'm sure they already do. They certainly looked very disciplined to me... but they also need to see you as relatable! Which they have now seen more of! See? _I'm helping._ " I offered with a wink. 

She glared at me for a moment, but couldn't hold it for long, and then burst out laughing. "Alright, alright... Perhaps yer right. Have ye found anythin' with yer research?" 

"Sadly, no. And I'm here because I need a little help with that." 

Her pupils dilated a bit at that. "You know I'm not tha best with tha sort o' thing." 

"No, no -- I think there's a way you can get to know Ardbert a bit better, which will _also_ help me do better research!" 

She looked puzzled. "How do ye figure?" 

"He was getting restless. I think he's like you, he needs _action_." 

"And...?" 

"Which is why we're going to spar." 

"Hm, I'll get tha recruits t' clean up the yard 'n clear some space, lest we set tha whole Imperative aflame..." 

I shook my head. 

She looked confused. "No?" 

"No. Actually, give me a second. Gotta wake him up." I closed my eyes. 

It took a few moments, but I was able to rouse him. 

"Oh, are we done being excessively cute?" he snarked. 

"Aye. Gonna need you soon, though. Get ready to switch out." 

"Alright. Wait... what?" 

I opened my eyes and looked back at Astraea. "Ok. He's here. So, as I said, we're gonna spar. But the only spells I'm casting today are _Protect_ and _Stoneskin_. Now then... _where do you keep the training axes?_ " 

Astraea's eyes widened, then the corner of her mouth slowly curled into a sharp-toothed grin. "Oh, I think this Ardbert 'n me's gon' be _good friends._ " 


	9. Prompt #09: "Lush"

[SPOILERS: SHADOWBRINGERS 5.0 MSQ] 

  
  
  


\----- The Pendants ----- 

"Rest well, love. Ye've done yer part. Any knave lays a single knuckle on this door, an you let me know, aye? They do and they _answer to me._ " Astraea gave me a toothy, slightly menacing smile as she pulled the door shut on my private chambers in the pendants. I had told her that I wanted to spend the night alone to recover, and that I'd probably sleep through most of the next day. As ever, she granted the space I needed freely. 

I turned to gaze out the window at the night sky and the lush, vivid violets of Lakeland beyond. _We did it._ And everyone had come home safe, just the same as they'd gone in. Well -- mostly. 

"Ardbert? ...Ardbert are you there?" I whispered aloud. 

"Aye," came his exhausted voice after a delay. It was crystal clear yet not heard with my ears. This voice came from within. 

I closed my eyes and sighed. We hadn't spoken much since the battle with Emet-Selch. I think we were both too exhausted. "Are you... alright?" I asked. 

"I suppose 'alright' is relative, isn't it?" he evaded. 

I stood there, silent, a good long while and eventually pulled over a chair to sit on. I-- we?-- stared out over the forest and listened to the wind rustling through the distant trees for a good long while, lost in thought. 

I finally gathered up the courage to ask what was really bothering me. 

"Ardbert," I said aloud, "...did I do the right thing?" 

"What sort of question is that? _You saved our worlds._ " He had misunderstood, and sounded offended. 

"No -- I mean..." 

My mind flashed back to the moment I recovered him from the Lifestream: _"What-- Where-- Rejah?!"_

"You seemed... surprised, when I brought you back. I thought-- I thought I had asked your permission but--" 

"Rejah," he interrupted. 

My breath hitched, eyes watering slightly. 

"I heard you. I think I was... only half-lucid, and quite surprised to exist at all, but aye, I answered the only way I could." 

I sniffled and nodded, wiping tears from my eyes. "Oh, good... I... I..." 

"You didn't force anything." 

Relief washed over me. "I'm glad." I replied, fresh tears running down my face. The very thought that I might have brought him back against his will was a painful, harsh lesson. A reminder that, gifted though I am in the Echo, I still know little of its full potential, and reckless use of it always carried the possibility of causing real harm. 

"You saved me, Rejah. I'm here, my memory seems intact... In that sense, sure, I'm _alright_." 

I swallowed nervously at the qualifiers. "But...?" 

"But I'm worried about _you._ ", he intoned lovingly. 

I laughed. Of _course_ he would be. "Me? I'm better than ever. No pain from the Light for the first time in over a moon... and yeah, everybody came home safe. So I'm good." 

"That's not exactly what I meant, but I'm glad to hear it, nonetheless." 

I smiled slightly. "What did you mean, then?" 

"Well... What about me? You've got a voice in your head! It's..." he sighed, "What's your wife going to think? Your friends? Do we even tell them?" 

"Ah." I saw what he was getting at but... I didn't really want to deal with it just yet. "I think... I think we'll figure that out as it comes up." I looked down, considering, then added, "I'm telling Astraea tomorrow, though. She, at least, deserves to know. _Needs_ to know." 

Silence reigned for a while. I wanted to take a bath, but things would surely get awkward. I rehearsed a dozen or so different ways to bring it up and assure Ardbert that I would be okay and get used to this but... nothing quite sounded right. Eventually, the cool night breeze became too much, and I rose to close the windows. I realized then that this was going to be awkward no matter what I did. As the windows latched shut, I said "Well... I suppose we should go ahead and get the first bit of unavoidable awkwardness out of the way." 

"What do you mean?" Ardbert asked, puzzled. 

"Probably best I just do it and get it over with." I proceeded to the suite's private bath and tested the temperature with a hand. It was just as warm and inviting as ever. 

"Oh... I see. Uh -- Right. _I am terribly sorry about your loss of privacy._ " 

I furrowed my brow at that. Something sounded... off about the way he said it. "Ardbert... Did you... _rehearse_ that?" 

"What?! No I-- I mean, agh... I... I didn't know what to say! I wanted to say something perfectly, without awkwardness, but now I've just gone and made it extra awkward! I'm sorry! I--" 

I started laughing, and couldn't stop. I completely lost it. 

Ardbert started laughing too, harder and harder. We were stuck in a laughing loop for a good minute or so. 

When the hilarity finally died down, he was first to speak. "I admit, that was a bit daft. Should have just winged it." 

I snickered. "That's... oh Twelve, I'd been trying to figure out how to bring it up as well, rehearsed a bunch, and eventually gave up and came over here." 

"You're kidding." 

"Nope! Good to know we're _both_ incredibly awkward. At least now it's not just me!" I joked. 

"Wicked White, we really are the same person, aren't we?" 

"Seems that way." I proceeded to strip off my clothes with no further comments from Ardbert. I lowered myself into the bath as normal, as if I didn't have a second person in my head seeing... maybe feeling, every move I made. 

I submerged myself up to the neck on the shallower side of the tub and breathed in the warm, humid air. I let out a sigh of relief, relaxing and releasing pains and tension I hadn't even been aware of. It was strange, how the screaming, raging existential pain of the Light had put everything else into perspective. 

"The Exarch has really outdone himself," said Ardbert with a mental relaxed sigh of his own. "Would that heated baths were so easy to find back when my team and I were adventuring. The gold I would have spent for such a thing..." 

"Hmm... So you can feel what I feel? I was wondering." I asked aloud. 

"Oh. I seem to be able to, yes," he replied. 

I laughed awkwardly. "This is so... strange," I mumbled, not knowing what else to say. 

"It's certainly not the afterlife I'd envisioned," he quipped uneasily. 

We simply soaked in silence for a good long while, letting whatever magitek was built into the tub circulate the cleansing and healing water around us. Occasionally, I'd shift and find a particularly sore spot or notice a scrape, and would reach down to heal it myself, but other than that, we just simply... relaxed. When I finally began to feel like I could try to sleep, I sat up and made ready to get out. 

Ardbert chose this moment to finally speak up again. "Rejah, _really._ Are you _sure_ you're okay with... us? With how things turned out? I don't want to be a burden." 

I thought for just a second, then nodded and replied, "Aye. I think I am. It will take time, but I'll get used to this. _We'll_ get used to this. Might even make some things easier, now that I think about it." 

"Like what?" 

I smiled. "The book. _Your_ book. I haven't forgotten -- If I'd lost you, I'm sure I'd start scouring every corner of Norvrandt for surviving stories about you and your party. It'll be much easier to write with you around." 

He laughed. "You're too kind. I'm looking forward to it. Anything to clear our names, and ensure my friends are remembered properly. _Especially_ for their sacrifice to stop the flood." His tone shifted somber. "I miss them." 

"I can only imagine how you must feel," I replied, thinking back to the time that I thought I was the only surviving Scion after the Bloody Banquet. "I've had some losses and close calls of my own... We can't bring them back, but... you have me. And maybe we'll find a way for you to get to know the rest of the Scions too. There's no replacing Lamitt, Renda-Rae, Branden, and Nyelbert, but I believe they'd want you to carry on, and make new friends," I said as I climbed out of the tub and dried off. 

"Aye. They were a good bunch. Friends all, reliable and true. They'd want the best for me -- and for you too." 

"You know... That gives me an idea," I mused, pulling on my nightgown. 

"Oh? What's that?" 

"Why don't we go visit Seto tomorrow? I can explain the situation, and relay anything you want to say to him." 

"Oh! -- Yeah. Yeah! I'd like that." 

"Then it's a plan," I said, slowly and cozily burying us in the blankets on the bed. "Good night, Ardbert," I said with a yawn. 

"Good night, Rejah." 

I was out before I had another thought. 


	10. Prompt #10: "Avail"

[SPOILERS: SHADOWBRINGERS 5.2 MSQ] 

  
  
  


\----- The Rak'Tika Greatwood, Norvrandt ----- 

My thoughts wandered as we wound our way back to Fanow, the Viis leading the way. "Starshowers...", I mused privately, "Ardbert... Do you recall when your Echo awakened?" 

"Aye, when I was a boy, I always enjoyed looking up at the night sky. I'd barely even picked up the axe by then. I'd seen plenty of little star showers before... but none like this one. It made me feel..." 

"...Hollow?" 

"Aye, that's a good word for it. Hollow as the deepest grief you've ever known... When did you see one?" 

"The Seventh Umbral Calamity." 

"That was only... eight or nine years ago, in your world, wasn't it?" 

"Aye. I was there -- at Cartenau -- when the lesser moon fell. Meteors blazed across the skies in all directions. A _star shower_ , indeed; more powerful and violent than any natural event. I remember hearing the order to retreat. We began to fall back, only to be harrassed by a Garlean unit from behind. I remember casting spell after spell over my shoulder, and chancing a look up at the descending moon. I... I stopped. I felt this immense sense of loss and grief. It was as if my heart had been replaced by the hollowest depths of the void. I cried. At the time, I believed it was an omen from Menphina. She was telling me that I wouldn't survive this battle, but I could prevent more loss. So... I held my ground. I fought as I'd never fought before. I distracted the Garleans and gave my unit time to get clear. Even once I was surrounded, it was strange. As if I knew where the enemy's attacks were going to land before they'd even begun. I dodged. I retaliated. I stayed alive, despite being impossibly outnumbered." 

I took a deep breath and shivered at the memory. 

"How did you escape?", Ardbert asked, his attention rapt. 

"I suppose I didn't. Not really. All of the fighting just... _stopped_ , when Bahamut broke free of the moon and roared. I think every living thing in Eorzea must have heard that sound, and had their hearts skip a few beats. Then the Elder Dragon unleashed a firestorm of unbelievable proportions. I threw up the strongest shield I could muster. Several of the Garlean soldiers I had just been fighting dove inside the protective shell as it formed. I let them. I prayed with my all to Menphina and the Twelve; It took everything I had and then some to hold off the first barrage. I was knocked flat when the shield failed, but I was alive. I was spent, though, and would not have survived another attack. I even reached for my attunement to my home aetheryte, but found nothing, meaning the crystal had probably been destroyed. Fortunately... the Twelve chose that moment to step in, or so I believed. Their symbols filled the sky and had the Dragon all but contained -- then he broke free of their shackles and shattered them too. The resulting explosion sent a wall of chaotic, fiery aether in my direction at incredible speed." 

"Clearly, you survived." 

"Aye. Just before the wall of fire hit, I was saved." 

"Hydaelyn intervened?" 

"That's what I thought at the time, but no. It was Archon Louisoix, former leader of the group that would become the Scions of the Seventh Dawn; and I only know _that_ because some years later I would, with Alisae and Alphinaud at my side, solve the mystery of Bahamut's disappearance despite the failure of the twelve to contain him. But that -- that's a story for another time." 

"So you were not acquainted with him at the time?" 

"Nay. He cast a spell to save all Echo-wielders on the field. He'd been hoping to save the Warriors of Light of the Sixth Astral Era, but he was too late; they had already perished. Instead, the spell found _me._ One moment, I was staring at my imminent fiery demise, and the next, my senses had failed entirely. I say 'failed' because... Well, I didn't go unconscious -- But I felt and saw nothing at all. Not even blackness. No sense of up or down. No sensations at all. Everything was just... eerily _numb_. And I was suspended like that for a long while. My thoughts became sluggish, time itself lost meaning. I remember thinking that I had died; that this must be what death is like. Just a slow, empty fade into oblivion. Eventually, I thought one last time of my mother, said my peace to the gods, and quit fighting it. I drifted off to sleep... and then I had the strangest dream. I was attacked by a shadowy man in a mask, and in response, I drove him off with a blade of purest light." 

I took a breath and sighed. 

"Next thing I knew, I heard my own heartbeat and was completely shocked to find myself waking up on the jagged, broken shores of Silvertear Lake. I was exhausted, battered, and bloody, but most of my wounds were healed, and more importantly, _I was alive._ I had no idea how I'd even _gotten_ to Silvertear, for it is malms upon malms from Cartenau. But however I came to be there, I knew I'd walked down the nearby ridgeline only days previously on the way to the battle, so I was relatively quick to get my bearings. I headed for _Camp Revenant's Toll,_ the nearest point of civilization, which had served as my unit's staging point for operations. But when I arrived, I was even more confused. An entire fortress had been built atop that hill, constructed entirely out of heavy stone, dominating the landscape. I assumed I was lost but was happy to find civilization all the same. The guards at the gate showed me to their doctors, given that I was covered in blood from the battle. I asked them where I was, only to be told _Revenant's Toll_. I asked a bunch of other awkward questions, and finally, someone suggested that I might have a concussion or amnesia. Then they told me the date." 

"No way -- How long had actually passed?", Ardbert gasped. 

"Five years." 

Ardbert sent me a comforting feeling. Then he remained silent for the rest of the way back to Fanow, thinking. 


	11. Prompt #11: "Ultracrepidarian" (Free-write instead)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is such a troll prompt! What am I supposed to do with that? xD
> 
> I'm just going to pick up with a continuation of what I did for Prompt #09.

[SPOILERS: SHADOWBRINGERS 5.0 MSQ] 

  
  
  


\----- The Pendants ----- 

I dreamt of my mother, trying to rouse me awake on a cold winter's morning. I didn't want to get up, until she stripped away the blankets, exposing me to the chill of the house. But I was too tired, and tried to stay in that strange liminal, half-asleep state for just a little while longer. Until I started hearing my name. Someone rather _frantically_ repeating my name. 

"Rejah! Rejah Rejah Rejah _Rejah!!_ , oh, please wake up, please still be here, where are you?!?" 

I came to consciousness fully standing, staring deeply into my own eyes in the dresser's mirror, hands braced on the mirror frame, still wearing nothing but my night robe. I was frantically shout-whispering in my own voice into the mirror. I struggled to take in this odd situation, assuming I was dreaming, and then slowly started to process what was actually going on. 

"Ardbert?" I couldn't hear myself speak, but Ardbert clearly heard it. 

"Oh, thank the GODS! You're back!!" 

"I was asleep," I whined with a yawn. 

"You haven't fully woken up yet, have you?" he sighed in my voice. 

That finally got my mind to start working properly. "No -- Wait. How did we get over here? And why can't I-- Oh, _Seven Hells._ " 

"Yeah! _Now you get it._ I don't know what happened... I woke up, and then I rubbed my hair out of my face, and then I thought, 'but I haven't had hair in a hundred years!' and then, I realized it was _your_ hair and _your_ face! Then I managed to stumble over to the mirror to make sure I wasn't going crazy, and yeah..." 

"Calm down, we'll figure this out... Look on the bright side, you're in a physical body again...", I half-joked. Inwardly, I was panicking. 

"How can you joke about this? I... I don't know how to be _you!_ I can't just... dance around your friends, pretending to be Rejah Tavi, Warrior of Light and Darkness all day!" 

"Well, if you end up having to, at least you've got me here for all the answers?" I suggested warily. 

Ardbert hung our head, then shook it in denial. "No... No, we have to fix this!" 

I took an imaginary deep breath and tried to refocus. "Okay, you're right, we'll figure something out. Um, maybe it's just, whoever wakes up first? Maybe if you try to go to sleep, but I stay awake, we'll switch back?" I suggested. 

"I am _far_ too weirded out to sleep right now, sorry." 

I shuddered, realizing that I wasn't far behind in that regard. "Okay. Sure. Something else then... I -- I do have to admit -- I'm freaking out a bit too. This is really strange, seeing and feeling everything, but not being able to move." 

"Welcome to my world." he snapped. "Sorry. I didn't mean it like that. I'm just... I'm scared." 

"What for? We're in a safe place, nobody's expecting us today, we have time to figure this out," I reassured. 

"That's not -- I mean -- I already felt like I was trespassing. Now I've somehow stolen... well, you," he said, dejectedly. 

"It's not trespassing when you're _invited_ ," I reminded him warmly. "Nor is it theft when you didn't _choose_ to take it." 

"Ah, fair enough. Uh... maybe... Oh! I have an idea!" 

Ardbert took several wobbly steps back toward the bed, and I was immediately ten times more uncomfortable. "Whoah -- What are you doing?!" 

"Walking! I don't know how you do it with your -- your short little legs and this, _blasted tail_ flailing about!" 

"First of all, quit flailing it! That's half your problem!" I shrieked. 

" _How?!_ It just does what it wants!" 

I -- I actually didn't have an answer for that. "Twelve, that's _right,_ you never had one..." 

"She catches on!" he mocked, finally sitting us back down on the bed. He tried to lay down, but bent our tail at an uncomfortable angle, fixed it with a hand, and then was finally able to lay down. "Ok. Here goes. I'm gonna stop... trying to do _anything_. I'm just gonna _relax_ , and I want _you_ to try to do something. Anything. Take over if you can. _Please._ " 

"Alright, alright. Twelve above... Just breathe, and try to stay calm. Let me know when you're ready." 

It took several minutes, but I could feel my -- our? -- heart rate falling slowly. Finally, Ardbert announced he was relaxed, and I did my best to try to move. Nothing, at first. So I closed my eyes and tried not to think about Ardbert. I just imagined moving my arm a few times, then tried to actually move it. Still nothing. 

"Nothing's working, is it?" Ardbert asked nervously. 

"Give me a minute, I've barely tried anything yet." 

"Okay." 

The physical wasn't working... but what about aetherial? I focused and tried a simple self-healing spell that I knew I could cast without a focus or gesture easily, and to my surprise, it worked. 

"Great, maybe you can heal away my inability to properly use a tail." Ardbert snarked. 

I laughed a bit at that. "Oh, don't worry, every Miqo'te goes through that stage! I'm sure it will come with practice!" 

I felt him frown. "What? I'm not a Myst-- Miqo'te! And you can't _possibly_ mean that you want me to do this again. I was _perfectly happy_ as a passenger." 

"We might not have a choice in who wakes up first, you know. Also, technically, you're a Miqo'te now, whether you like it or not!" I cackled mischievously. 

"Rejah." 

I did my best to reign in my mirth. "Hmm?" 

"Not. Helping." Ardbert chided. 

"Psh." Far from scared anymore, I was simply amused by Ardbert's over-reaction to having been put in the front. Wait -- _in front!_ "Ardbert. When you hear my voice, where does it feel like it's coming from?" 

"Inside? Behind a bit? Kinda in the back of my mind, I guess?" 

"Aye, it was the same for me. I'm gonna try to... move forward, sort of?" I explained. 

"Oh, good idea... I think?" 

I tried mentally moving whatever constituted "myself" forward, just like I might move aether for casting to where it was needed. This _finally_ had a noticeable effect, but I ran into resistance. I tried to push past it -- and immediately overdid it, snapping past the blockage, hard. I bolted upright in bed, heaving for breath and grasping my forehead, fighting to stave off a brand new, pounding headache. 

_"Wicked White!_ " Ardbert shouted at the back of my mind. 

"Oww." I mumbled, then flopped back onto the bed, still clutching my temples. "I think I might have overdone it." 

Ardbert just laughed, gleefully. "I knew you could do it! I never doubted you, not even for a second!" 

I sighed, "If it's all the same to you, perhaps if this happens again, just try to go back to sleep? Might be easier if I just wake up first..." 

"Aye, you won't get any argument from me, there. Once was enough. Probably should have done this morning, but when I called your name and you didn't respond I -- Well... I'm sorry for panicking." 

I sat up and shook my head and rolled my shoulders, but the ache was persistent. I channeled a soothing Esuna, but it only helped so much. I yawned, "I think we might need another nice soak before we set out for Wolkedorf." 

"Yeah... I won't argue that one, either." 


	12. Prompt #12: "Tooth and Nail"

\----- Carline Canopy Inn, New Gridania ----- 

As usual, my new instincts clued into the oncoming threat before any of my physical senses. Just as I was getting comfortable in bed, I bolted upright. My ears involuntarily swiveled toward the entrance of the inn room, and a chill ran down my spine. Something was very, very wrong. I hopped out of bed and brought my staff to the ready, just in time. 

The polarity of the air in the space began to plummet, aspecting heavily to the umbral. There was a thrumming sound and a surge of purples and blacks as a hole opened in the fabric of reality itself before my eyes. For a moment, there was pitch blackness at the center of the yawning purple portal, even to my Moonkeeper eyes. Then it collapsed, and it was all I could do not to jump in fright. A mysterious black-robed figure emerged, similar to the one I'd defeated earlier in the day. He looked directly at me and began a slow clap with a tilt of his head. 

"Bravo, Bravo, my dear. Laying low one of ours is no mean feat for a mere _mortal_ , much less one who has yet to consecrate the Blessing." His words dripped with venom. 

I backed farther into the corner and pre-charged my staff's focus so that I could cast instantly should he attack. "What do you want? And what blessing?" 

"Ah, but she is willing to _talk_. Perhaps there is hope for you yet. A shame... my job would have been _much_ more enjoyable had you the good sense to attack." 

I glared at him uneasily. He was too smooth and confident, goading even. The aether of the room churned and broiled around his form, rippling in ways that spoke of only one thing: Absolutely terrifying amounts of danger. I placed a hand on top of my staff and channeled its charge into myself. _"Stoneskin! Protect!"_ I whispered. Aether surged into me from the surrounding air and coated me in a double layer of protection -- one against physical attacks, the other against magic. 

The man burst out into maniacal laughter. "Hahahahahahahahaha... Oh, but you misunderstand, child--" 

In a blink, he was inches from my face, and his voice boomed from every direction at once. _"YOU WOULD ALREADY BE DEAD IF I WISHED IT."_

In a blink, he was back across the room. The surge of aether that accompanied this display made my tail bristle and the hair on my neck stand on end. Fighting this entity was clearly out of the question. Reluctantly, I tossed my staff onto the bed, then sat on a nearby chair, keeping my hands where he could see them. "Very well, I'm listening." 

"Smart girl." He nodded, then he _floated_ eerily across the room, coming to a stop a respectful distance away, and bowing with dramatic flair. When he raised his head, a blood-red sigil flashed in front of his face. "You may--" 

"--YOU!" I cut him off, startled. Every muscle in my body seized up, forcing me as far back as possible in my seat. My brow dripped with sweat. "I-- _I saw your symbol in a dream!"_ I blurted before I could stop myself. 

His eyes glistened behind his sigil. He tilted his head slowly, surprised. "...Then the Emissary was right... Such a vision with so young a gift... You are indeed far stronger in the Echo than any previous candidate. I can see now why he insisted on making overtures." 

I was terrified, but still present enough in the moment to make a connection -- this "Echo" he referred to, that must be the "battle instinct" I'd manifested at Cartenau. And it seemed it was somehow related to the dream, too? Lahabrea stood up tall once more, and I followed him with only my eyes. Every other part of me was still locked up with fear. 

"No matter. As I was saying, you may call me _Lahabrea._ I serve as speaker for the organization your kind knows as the _Ascians._ Were it up to me alone, I would have slain you for your transgressions this day. However -- and I am beginning to see why -- you have piqued some curiosity among our members. As you yet lack her full Blessing, there is yet time to evaluate you as a candidate for Ascension, before _she_ is allowed to lay any further claims to your soul." 

My heart pounded in my chest, every instinct in my body screaming at me to either fight tooth and nail or flee, but I held fast. I tried to keep my expression neutral as I asked in confusion, "Ascension? Someone's after my _soul?"_

"Entry into our organization, girl! Let me be clear: as you are now, you are a wildcard, claimed by neither side of this war, and until you are brought to heel beside us, you will remain an existential threat to our plans!" 

He was livid. Spitting and getting louder with every word, he continued: "The Emissary bore witness to your battle after the fact, and made it clear: Precious few _mortals_ can claim such skillful use of the Echo as that which you displayed today. All the more reason that I _urged_ for your immediate termination! _Count yourself lucky that I have been overruled!!"_

I nodded timidly. 

He smiled a wicked smile. "So, listen well, and... with any luck on your part... I will not be unleashed upon you." 

I swallowed and nodded again. 

"To ensure you cooperate out of interest rather than only fear, The Emissary has seen fit to preemptively grant you a boon. A carrot, if you will, to balance my stick. I think that you will find the offer most... _irresistible."_

"What... did you have in mind?" I felt like I had to ask. Anything to keep this monster talking instead of raising a hand against me. 

"Access to a relic of the distant past. One with which you are no doubt _intimately_ familiar. That _filthy swill_ you drink is a _poor imitation_ of the real thing." With a flourish and a sneer, he produced a vial of iridescent blue liquid at the tips of his sharp-gloved fingers. I recognized it from legendary accounts instantly. 

My eyes went wide. "How... how did you know?" Even through my fear, there was no hiding my interest. 

"Your _pathetic_ formula leaves persistent traces of imbalance throughout your corporeal aether. To our sight, the changes you have made are plain as day. Here. _Take it,_ one of the last of its kind in all existence." 

He opened his palm and the vial of precious liquid not seen since the end of Nym floated to me. I couldn't resist. Pure interest overruled my fear. I took the vial from the air, held it up to the light reverently, and gave it a gentle swirl. My heart skipped a beat as I admired its perfect viscosity and speckles of iridescence. My eyes began to water. This was _far_ too good to be true. My adventuring career had barely begun, and this _eldritch monster_ was offering me an ultimate prize, one that I had dreamt of finding since reading of it as a child: _True Fantasia!_

"How do I earn it?" I asked, incredulous, and eyeing him warily. 

"Per the Emissary, you may keep it regardless. This is but a _taste_ of our reach, and we offer it to you on one sole condition: _That you will cease all activities against us from this moment forth._ Accept, and it is yours to drink whenever you see fit." 

Slowly, cautiously, I leaned back in the chair again and rested the vial in my lap. 

Lahabrea smiled. "A wise decision. Now. In a few days' time, one of our agents will approach you with several tasks. It matters not where you travel, he will be watching, and he will find you. Should you complete these assignments to our satisfaction, you _may_ yet earn my trust. Mark my words -- The Emissary may decide who we reach out to -- but it is _I_ who is the gatekeeper, and _I_ who you must _impress._ Succeed, and not only will you live to keep your new form, but I shall also return to grant you the power, education, and nigh-immortality you will have rightfully earned! You will use these gifts to aid us in fulfilling our mission: _Salvation of the Star itself from ruin beyond your current limited comprehension!"_

I took a deep breath. "Then I suppose I shouldn't fail." It was obvious what would happen, otherwise. 

Lahabrea simply _laughed._

I looked back down at the vial I held in my lap, thinking and rubbing the back of my neck. There was another thrumming sound, and when I looked back up he was gone. Nothing remained but a few dissipating wisps of purplish-black aether. 

Unnerved, I had to look on the bright side to even attempt sleep. It seemed that, at least for the moment, the Ascians would leave me alone so long as I didn't actively work against them. I highly doubted I would be willing or able to complete the Ascian's coming tasks, given the fact that the "pawn" I had killed was behind riling up the Ixal. If they wanted me to do things that would get people hurt... Well, I was fairly confident I'd rather die fighting -- or more probably, simply die, if this encounter had been any indication. I shuddered. 

I was faced with some difficult decisions in the coming days. The dark figure from my stasis dream was turning out to be far more of a threat than I had ever anticipated. After all, until now, I had just thought it a strange dream. How in the world had I defeated him again...? The more I thought about it, the less sense it made, and the less sure I was about _anything._

So for now, I would simply follow through on the first order of business -- validating the contents of the vial. For all I knew, it could be tainted with poison, or have lost its effect over the eons. And then, I would need to think long and hard about how I would respond, should I be given an abhorrent task. I didn't want to die, but I might be forced into a choice between that and giving up my qualms about harming innocents. I shivered at the thought and hoped I would be strong enough to do the right thing, should it come to that. 

I decided I'd make for Bentbranch with all haste in the morning, to consult with the best Alchemist I knew -- my mother. I would also make sure to have a pleasant day with her just in case it was the last time she would ever see me alive. I hated that thought. She'd only just gotten me back but a few months ago. _What in the seven hells have I got myself into?_


	13. Prompt #13: Free Write ("Homecoming")

[SPOILERS: NONE] 

  
  
  


\----- Central Shroud, Gridania ----- 

I barely slept. I gave up about a bell before dawn and decided to eat breakfast at the inn, as I didn't want to arrive home too early in the morning. I sat with my back to a corner and flinched at every sudden movement the entire time I ate. 

After breakfast, I paid my tab, returned my room key, and strode out of the Carline Canopy onto the dirty cobbled streets of New Gridania. I maneuvered to a suitable spot far enough out of the way of the early morning traffic and reached out to the Bentbranch Aetheryte. I lifted off the ground as the aetheric resonance built, and soon arrived at my destination. 

I sighed and shook my head. Before Cartenau, I would have needed a few days to rest and recover after even a short-range teleport like that. Nowadays, I could use the aetheryte network several times in a day without breaking a sweat. Perhaps that newfound ability, too, had something to do with this "Echo" that Lahabrea had mentioned. I shook off the thought -- that was a puzzle to be solved another day. I reoriented myself and set out once more. 

I strode down the boardwalk along the West Vein, drawing the usual stares. Armed Moonkeepers, Conjurer or otherwise, weren't a common sight inside city limits. Few would trust me off-hand. I made a point to avoid eye contact with wood wailers in the vicinity, but at the same time walk directly past them to show that I was supposed to be there, and not concerned at all about their presence. Of course, I had my papers from the Conjurer's guild, should it come to that, but I was hoping to avoid any stops and keep a good pace. I did have to roll my eyes though when I saw a Midlander woman on the other side of the street pull her two children behind her as I passed. 

My destination was about an hour's walk south and slightly west of town, in the hills above the old Tam-Tara Deepcroft. As I walked, I checked behind me, to the sides, even above me, the entire way. The longer I walked in silence, the more creeped out and on-edge I became. It turns out that nothing gives you the persistent feeling of being watched quite like inscrutable shadowy beings from beyond this realm outright saying that they were going to. 

I hated every second of it. 

After the last and steepest in a series of switchbacks on the narrow trail that ran up into the hills, I finally laid eyes on my birthplace. A hastily-built, yet sturdy, weathered wooden palisade cordoned off a section of the forest floor. Each section of tall fencing ran between the trunks of the Giant Shroudtrees. Everywhere possible, the land and the trees themselves were integrated to serve as parts of the wall itself. Our artisans knew that living in harmony with the forest was the key to keeping the Elementals happy and stopping the Wood Wailers from caring too much about our humble settlement. 

Arching over the gates was a crude wooden sign, emblazoned with a woodburnt glyph of Menphina, and bearing a plain inscription: MOLKOT 

Relief washed over me as I approached the gates, bringing a pause to the morning's entirely-justifiable paranoia. 

I went up to the side of the entrance and tugged twice on the bell cord, then stood back. Understandably, it took a short while for someone to come to the gates, as it was still quite early in the morning. A happy, familiar face of pale gray, purple eyes and silver hair appeared above the fenceline: Young Nivi Molkot, daughter of the current Matriarch, Npah. I smiled and greeted her. 

"Good morning, Nivi! I'm here to see my mother. Could you get someone to let me in?" 

She waved at me then turned to look down at someone behind her. "It's Rukoh'a!", she shouted, before stomping back down the watch platform stairs and out of sight. The use of my deadname was fairly expected from _anyone_ of the Molkot line, but I flinched nonetheless. Soon, wood slid against metal, and one of the heavy gates swung outward, just wide enough for me to enter. 

Once inside, I bit my tongue and refrained from saying anything to Nivi's older sister, Cemi. Instead, I merely nodded my thanks and gestured that I would handle closing the door myself. She barely acknowledged my presence before turning and stomping off back to whatever she'd been doing prior to my interruption. As far as interactions with her went, it was a positive one. Long ago I had learned that nothing good ever came of unnecessary conversation with the Matriarch's older daughter. 

I pulled the thick wooden gate closed behind me, then levered the heavy bar down into its catch. It wouldn't do to let any random wolf, ochu, or raider wander into the settlement uncontested. I turned around, only to find my way forward blocked by an adorably big-eyed Nivi. She gestured for me to lean down, so I did. She cupped my ear and whispered to me, "Sorry I called you the bad name, Rejah... Big sis yells at me if I don't. She says she wishes you stayed dead after the ca-lamb-ity. But I think you're nice." 

_Aww._ I instantly felt bad for having judged her. Perhaps not all of the Molkot line would turn out rotten after all. I smiled and gave her a hug, then retrieved a couple of small dark chocolates from my travel pouch and handed them to her. Her iridescent purple irises went huge at the sight of the rich little treats, and her ears flicked about excitedly. I ruffled her hair a bit, "Shhhh... Our little secret, okay?" 

The silver-haired child quickly stuffed one of the chocolates in her mouth whole and nodded with a huge smile, before rushing back toward the Matriarch's house. "Have a good day, Nivi!" I called after her with a smile. I stretched and laughed slightly at the warmer-than-expected welcome. Twelve, she was a cute kit. 

I trudged off in the other direction, to the far corner of the settlement, where I knew I would find my Ma busily prepping her workshop for the day. 


	14. Prompt #14: "Part"

\----- Tavi Residence, 7 UE 5 ----- 

The sight of the small house in the back corner of the Molkot village made me smile. I couldn't help but feel proud, looking upon the stubbornly patched hole in the roof left over from the Calamity. Even five years on, the newer planks were ever so slightly lighter in color than the parts underneath. It was a good representation of Ma's character, a formidable woman who could get things done, even while grieving the early "death" of a daughter. 

Ma herself was a picture of stubbornness too; almost fifty summers old and yet hardly a strand of gray showing through her curly black locks. Though her dark gray face framed them with crow's feet and wrinkles to spare, her brilliant pale blue eyes still held the spark of a much younger woman. She'd seen me coming and now stood smiling in the front doorway. 

"About time you made it back home, kit! What's it been, almost a moon?" she called. 

"Aye, Ma. Three sennights and some," I hollered back. 

"Well, you've got good timing. Come on in; I could use the extra hands. It's an ink-making day!" 

After sloughing off my pack in the corner and hanging up my overcoat, I immediately got to work. I hauled half a dozen buckets of water from the well and filled up the distiller. I brought another to have on hand to clean up the inevitable mess that would soon cover the workshop. While the distiller burbled away quietly in the corner, I got started grinding up silver sand into dust. All the while, Ma tended to preheating the alembic and crushing up the appropriate mix of elemental crystal shards. 

The whole of the morning passed in mostly silent work before either of us said much. We traded lots of quick hugs and the occasional familial entwining of tails together, and that was more than enough. I was happy to have some simple, focused tasks to take my mind off of the unbelievable chaos that wedged its way into my life into in the past few weeks. Aside from the inevitable wrist aches that came from grinding the silver sand, making ink was a comparatively relaxing endeavor. 

By a couple of bells past noon, we'd wrapped up, ending with about three dozen vials of enchanted silver ink, six of which had come out particularly well. The profits from this batch would easily fund the next few weeks of Ma's domestic alchemy, which was her primary job in the village. Her potions, salves, glues, fertilizers, and other odds and ends were the lifeblood of the settlement. Without Rukoh Tavi's alchemic expertise, the place would quickly fall apart until alternative supplies could be bought -- at much higher prices -- and the Molkots knew it. Thus house Tavi had maintained a fairly high rank in the matriarchal power structure, despite -- well, _me_. 

Eventually Ma asked how things had gone in New Gridania and getting registered with the guilds, and I shared it all -- How a good many people didn't seem to remember me, how my conjury was better than ever, and how just yesterday I'd had an audience with the Elder Seedseer herself, after taking care of a particularly persistent problem for them. 

As we washed the last few bits of stray glassware, I finally brought up the reason for my visit. "So, Ma, I've... been given something that seems... too good to be true, and I need your help verifying its authenticity. Would you mind taking a look?" 

She cocked an ear at me curiously, "You think yourself not capable? I've taught you nearly everything I know!" 

"It's not a matter of capability, but more one of... trust. Experience. And I don't know if I can distance myself enough to remain impartial." 

Her eyes widened. _"You didn't."_

I glanced aside, trying to figure out how to discuss this without bringing up the Ascians. The less Ma knew, the better. It would be safer that way. "I wasn't exactly looking for it, but an old collector offered one to me as a... contract reward, of sorts. I accepted it, and now I need to know if it's real." It was close enough to the truth, anyway. 

Her jaw dropped. "You _did!_ " She got up and hastily went around the workshop, closing and bolting each of shutters, and barring the front door. When she returned to the table, her voice had lowered to a whisper. "Do you have it with you?!" 

I went to my pack, and from within several nested layers of padding, produced the vial the Ascian had given me the night before. As I handed it to her, I explained further, "The glass is etched with Nymian Glyphs, just like you thought it would be, but I'm having trouble deciphering the text." 

She held it reverently, tilting it back and forth in the dim light of our hovel. "Aye, the text seems to be some sort of code... perhaps a preservation ward or other binding? I can't positively make it out either. But the viscosity is about right..." She closed her eyes and pushed a tiny pulse of aether into the container, and after a few seconds, opened her eyes. "The elemental balance is... _perfection itself._ I don't know how they achieved it. But there's something else here, something I can't quite place..." 

We sat there in silence while she thought for a while. When she spoke again, it was not about the concoction, but about me. "Do you realize how valuable even a tiny _sample_ of True Fantasia would be to the Alchemist's Guild in Ul'Dah? Or to collectors, or simply to people like yourself who would use it?" She closed her eyes solemnly. "Oh, please -- please be careful, kit -- whatever you do." Her eyes opened and watered up slightly. "I can't afford to lose you again." 

"I -- I know, Ma," I sighed. "I don't want you to lose me either. I'll be careful, I promise." 

She clutched the precious vial to her chest and rose, delivering it to the opposite corner where her ancient aetherometer sat covered in a cloth collecting dust. She rarely needed to use it, and its operation was as yet beyond me, but for situations like this, it was invaluable, no matter how old or off-calibration it was. 

I worked at cleaning out my pack as she fiddled with the delicate instrument. I had repacked about half when a shrill _shriek_ rang out from my Mother. I jumped to my feet and rushed to her side. "What is it?! What's wrong?" 

She turned to me, her face gaunt with grief, and buried her face in my shoulder where she let loose a couple stifled sobs. I held her close and patted her back. "What's wrong, Ma?" 

She leaned back and grasped my shoulders, looking me over from eye to eye. "Please... sit down... and let me look once more to... to verify my findings before I speak any further." 

I nodded slowly and returned to my place at the desk. I slid my half-organized pack roughly off the table and set it on the ground, forgotten for the moment. I was trembling. This level of shock was out of character for Ma. She was my rock -- absolutely nothing in this world _ever_ shook her, or so I had thought. 

I sat in tense silence, watching her work the dials and needles of the Aetherometer until she stood up tall and re-covered it, vial and all. She did so slowly and deliberately -- like you might cover a corpse for the dignity of the deceased. She bowed her head and prayed silently. 

Finally, she returned to the table, taking a seat directly next to me instead of across. "Kit -- _Rejah_ \-- I have both wonderful and terrible news." 

It was my turn to cock a concerned ear at her. 

"Your vial of True Fantasia... It is, as best as I can tell, authentic. However..." 

I swallowed and watched her face twist and shift as she tried to find the best way to say whatever was bothering her. I reached out and rubbed her shoulder reassuringly, which prompted her to take my hand, holding it between both of hers warmly. 

"I am _terribly sorry_ , kit, but you must promise me that you will _never_ use such a vile thing." 

And there it was. A huge hope of my childhood, dashed in a single sentence. 

"Wh... Why?" I wondered, fighting to hold back the emotions welling up inside me. 

"There are _entire souls_ trapped in the alchemical matrix of that vial. Dozens, at least. Perhaps many more. Worse yet, they are quite dense. All but certainly _Spoken._ " She intoned carefully. 

My sadness was halted in its tracks, as the gears began to turn. "Then... The Nymians... they sacrificed _people_ to empower their alchemy?" I was horrified. 

Ma nodded shakily. "I... I suppose this is why modern research has utterly failed to recapture their glory... We give them far too much credit," she lamented. 

After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence and simply holding each other's hands, she finally rose and broke free. She gingerly retrieved the vial from under its shroud and returned it to the table in front of me. "It is yours to do with what you will, but I don't want to see it in this house ever again. If you sell it, I want none of the Gil. You hear?" 

I didn't dare touch it. I only stared at it for a good long while, and then came to a decision. "No," I said softly. 

"Kit?" she asked curiously. 

"No... It's not mine. I don't have a right to own, much less _sell_ something like this. Nobody does." I swallowed down a wave of nausea and stood up, bracing myself on the table, trying to soothe myself with a mental mantra, and prepare myself for what must come next. _It's the right thing to do, and I'll just have to hope that the Ascians don't take offense._

I raised myself and stood up straight, then bowed my head and shaped my hands in a circle over my heart. With trembling voice, I began the Clan's traditional funerary rite. 

"Ma... With Menphina as our witness, let us send forth these souls on their journey into peace everlasting. May the loving light of the Goddess guide them through the Gates of Thal, and into the embrace of the Heavens." 

Ma teared up, nodded, and repeated the holy gesture. "With Menphina as our witness, I shall aid you in this, the most honorable of tasks." 

She then rushed to hug me, and I, her. 

We cried. 

In the back yard, we lit the incinerator which we normally used for the disposal of hazardous byproducts and other alchemical waste. Today it would serve as a pyre. When it reached full temperature, ma picked up her tongs, but I gestured for her to stop. I shook my head. "No, I'll do it. I brought it here, it's my responsibility." 

The corner of her mouth angled slightly upwards as she handed the tools to me. "I'm _so_ proud of you." 

With unexpected resolve, I swung open the heat resistant door and gently slid the vial into the heart of the roaring inferno. I sealed it back up, latched it, and retreated to the bench at the back of the house, where I sat next to Ma. 

An odd feeling of catharsis washed over me as the color coming off the chimney went sooty and black for a moment, then purest white as the vial ruptured and the binders in the fluid began to burn off. 

It was done. The souls would soon be freed, and in a way, so would we. 

For all of Ma's hypothesizing and research to aid me in obtaining a body that I could enjoy without the painful slow transition required by modern methods; For all of my hubris and bold claims that I would, one day, chase down the mythological True Fantasia; For all of it, we wept. They were wonderful, romantic stories that neither of us would ever forget, but alas -- the happy epilogue was never to be written. It had been a fool's errand from the start. But, better to find that out now, rather than after a lifetime's worth of fruitless obsession. 

The fire roared louder as the alchemical matrix itself began to break down, releasing all of the souls and energy locked within over the span of a few minutes. At its height, an eerie blue-green jet of flame roared several feet out the top of the chimney, until finally, the smoke and flames disappeared entirely. 

We let it run for another few minutes to ensure we cooked off any remaining residue; then I closed the valves on the wood gas generator to extinguish the blaze. Finally, I took some heavy tongs and reached up under the foundation of the furnace to draw out the ashtray and inspect the remains, to ensure we had successfully destroyed everything. 

Only the tray didn't only contain ash and drops of molten glass as expected. 

"What in the world...?" I wondered aloud. 

"What is it?" Ma called after me, approaching from behind. 

Testing with the back of my hand revealed that the oblong crystal that had formed in the ashes wasn't even warm. So I fished it out by hand and was about to show it to Ma, when I suddenly got a pounding headache and sank to the ground, winded. "Agh!" 

Ma rushed up beside me and braced me, leading me back towards the house. 

_"Hear... Feel... Think..."_ an eerily familiar voice repeatedly called out in my mind. 

Just as we made it to the bed, I blacked out. 


	15. Prompt #15: "Ache"

My temples ached as I slowly came to, realizing I was floating in an immense void. 

I winced and shook my head. _Where am I?_ I wondered. What did that crystal I picked up _do_ to me? Panic began to set in. _The Ascians! Lahabrea!_ Did one of them see me destroy their gift? _Am I dead?_

Despite my panic, I felt something clutched tightly in the palm of my hand. I held it up, curious. _The crystal from the ashes...?_

The crystal began to sing and vibrate and pull away. I released it, and an enormous blue-white glyph sprang into existence beneath my feet with a strange hum, its various parts spinning about and one by one locking into place. 

_"Hear..."_ , came a voice I knew I had heard before, but couldn't place. 

The crystal left my hand and floated to one of the points of the pattern. It began to glow a brilliant blue, a color reminiscent of the freed soul-energy released by the destroyed Fantasia. Brighter and brighter it grew... 

_"Feel..."_ , the voice said, louder and clearer than before. 

A powerful beam of aether leaped out of the crystal and struck me in the chest. 

I flinched, expecting some sort of pain, but, quite the opposite was true. A soothing warmth suffused throughout my entire being, enervating and strengthening everything it touched. 

_"Think..."_ , the voice said as the beam weakened and finally dissipated altogether. 

I was left standing on the strange glyph in the void, the crystal I'd found in the ashes hovering beside me. 

"Hear... Feel... Think..." the voice repeated. 

I turned around to face the voice, only to have my entire view filled with a gigantic blue crystal. My jaw fell slack at the enormity of it. 

"Crystal bearer... I am Hydaelyn. All made one." 

I was awestruck. _Hydaelyn... as in... the planet itself?_

"A Light there once was that shone throughout this realm... yet it hath since grown dim. And as it hath faltered, so hath Darkness risen up in its stead, presaging an end to life. For the sake of all, I beseech thee: deliver us from this fate!" 

Despite her archaic speech, purest meaning flooded into my mind. She was weak, dying, and she needed help. The _Ascians_ were to blame, and their actions had the potential to devastate the entire world. _It was not only my life that was threatened!_ My eyes narrowed as my understanding of the stakes expanded for the second time in as many days. I wanted to get to the bottom of this. I wanted to _understand,_ and stop them if I could. 

I addressed her. "They mean to kill me! I am not strong enough to fight them!" I called out, "What would you have me do??" 

"The power to banish the Darkness dwelleth in the Crystals of Light. Journey forth and lay claim to them. By thy deeds shall the Crystals reveal themselves to thee. Only believe, for the Light liveth in thy heart. Go now, my child, and shine thy Light on all creation." 

The mighty crystal drew away from my vision at startling speed -- no, it was I who was moving away from her! _"No! Wait!! I have so many questions--"_ I called after her, but it was no use. My headache returned, and-- 

I jolted awake, only to avert my eyes from the middle-aged pale gray face, white hair, and red eyes of Npah Molkot. She wasn't exactly who I'd hoped to see right then. It seemed my days of carefully avoiding her ever since I "returned from the dead" had finally come to an end. 

"Rejah! You return to us! Pray, tell me, what did you see?" 

My brain completely froze up -- I was absolutely perplexed. First of all, was that... a God? Or did _the planet_ just talk to me? Both? And -- Since when has _Matriarch Npah Molkot_ been in the habit of using the correct name for me? To be fair, I hadn't spoken to her since before the Calamity, but it was still a shock, piling up on top of other shocks. My head was aching even worse than when I picked up the crystal. I closed my eyes and rubbled my temples, only to be tapped on the shoulder insistently. 

"Please, child! Time may be of the essence! _What did you see??_ ", Npah urged. 

Ma placed a cautioning hand on Npah's shoulder, which she immediately shrugged off with a meaningful glance. Ma backed down, surprisingly. That's when I knew I had to focus, and give the Matriarch an answer. 

I focused, and reviewed the vision in my mind. "I saw... A giant crystal. Enormous, pale blue... she called herself--" 

Npah's eyes lit up. "--Hydaelyn," we said in unison. 

I was taken aback. Npah smiled at me, warmer than I'd ever seen from her, then she turned to Ma. "Rukoh, worry not. It is just as my mother foresaw. She is unharmed -- nay, she is _stronger_ and we are all _safer_ for the crystal she absorbed." 

"Ab... _Absorbed?!"_ I started panicking, trying to sit up and look around to find it, but Npah pushed me back down onto the bed with an enormous smile. I rolled my eyes and let her. 

Npah looked at me, heavy meaning in her eyes. "You are _fine._ Now listen. My mother was given the gift of foresight when the traitorous hound fell. A few years before she died, she foresaw that you had not in fact perished at Cartenau, but would return to the village one day, followed home by a shadow. 

Ice rippled down my spine. "No!" I started to panic yet again -- If they were here, then I had to-- 

Npah shifted her hand to a comforting rub on my shoulder. "Shhh! Shhh, child. Before you do anything else, you _must_ hear my message!" 

I relaxed slightly and looked at the Matriarch questioningly. _When did my life get so weird?_

"I should have delivered this to you when you first returned, but you are _very_ good at being elusive, dear," she chuckled. "I am here to let you know that my mother, Talah Molkot, left instructions that upon your return, both you and your mother were to be adopted as honorary daughters of the Molkot Line. So: welcome home, my daughter." 

Ma and I both gasped and looked at each other. 

"Why?" I wondered aloud. House Tavi, with only our two members left, was barely a footnote in the grander scheme of the Clans. Other than my Ma's alchemy, we contributed very little. For such a prestigious house as Molkot to honor us with this... It was _highly unusual,_ to say the least. And I thought Talah Molkot _hated_ me? 

"Won't there be pressure from the other Houses?" Ma asked. 

"No. Leave all of that to me, it's been taken care of," Npah replied. 

She turned to me again. "There is something else. Something she said was just for you." She closed her eyes and began to recite: 

_"Rejah Tavi, Honoured Daughter of Molkot: I was wrong, and full sorry am I for ever having made you feel unwelcome. A traveler you were born, and a traveler you shall ever be. In your journeys far and wide, pray, forget not from whence you came. And whether your return comes a day, a moon, or years from now -- know this: On that day, you will be welcomed here with open arms, for Molkot village is now and forevermore your home."_

She knelt at the bedside and prayed as I looked on, bewildered. "She said that?" 

"Word for word," Npah confirmed. 

"Thank you, Matriarch. I-- I'm not sure what to say," I stammered. 

"Npah, for you and Rukoh now. As honorary members of the Lead House, you have that right," she corrected. 

"Thank you Npah," Ma said, with a slightly unbelieving chuckle in her voice. 

I had an awful feeling suddenly, similar to what I'd experienced in the inn room, but more distant. Driven by instinct, I jumped up, squeezed past Npah, and rushed across the room to stick my head out the window. There! Across the square, floating just outside the walls. 

My eyes widened in fear and I ducked down slightly below the windowsill. _Lahabrea._

He floated along the fenceline as if searching for a way in and not finding it. _Couldn't he just fly over?_

"What is it? Do you see something, kit?" Ma said. I glanced beside me. She and Npah had both come to look and apparently couldn't see anything. 

I looked back to Lahabrea, and our eyes met. His sigil flared and he balled his fists in _abject rage._ Then he vanished into that creepy portal of his. 

"Npah," I said, turning to her with wonder. "I think the shadow just left." 

She winked. "That is good news indeed. Now, what say you two to an early dinner at my house? We have much to discuss." 


	16. Prompt #16: "Lucubration"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another word I had to look up, and personally, would never use. Means something along the lines of "meditation," so I'm running with that.

I'd completely zoned out of the political discussions between Npah and my mother to focus on my food. 

I leaned back in the chair and stared at the noodles and red sauce left on the plate. The meatballs had been so mouth-wateringly good, I'd gone into a near-meditative state just savoring them, and hadn't left much room for anything else. 

The Molkots weren't rich by any stretch of the imagination -- in fact, they were just as poor as the rest of us, if looked at through the lens of New Gridanian standards. But, they could certainly afford better food and more spices than Ma or me when the occasion called for it. 

I groaned in satisfaction. "Thank you for dinner, Matri-- I mean, Npah!" 

Cemi scoffed at my informal addressing of the Matriarch and glared daggers diagonally across the table at me. She shook her head, then abruptly stood. Doing her best to ignore me after that, she addressed her youngest sibling. "Come on Nivi, it's time for your bath." 

Nivi, who'd insisted on sitting next to me at the table (much to Cemi's chagrin), flattened her ears, then turned to me with a little glint in her eyes. "I gotta go..." she said sadly, then her ears perked up mischievously as she added "... big sis!" with a huge grin. I laughed and gave her a hug before she ran off. 

Npah looked after Cemi with disappointment as she disappeared into the hallway around the corner. She turned back to me, eyes a bit downcast. "My apologies. Give her time, she'll come around," she said sheepishly. 

I looked down at the wooden plate again. I highly doubted Cemi would ever have a change of heart. I had no idea what I'd ever done to earn her ire, and I certainly wasn't going to argue the point after Npah had gone so far out of her way to welcome me into her house -- both literally and politically -- so I just nodded. 

It was dark out by the time Ma and I headed back to our house on the high corner of the village. Only a handful of the other villagers were out and about; for the most part, they'd all started to turn in, so it was a quiet walk until Ma piped up. 

"Rejah... could you tell me about this shadow? Npah said she knew not what it was -- she only had Talah's words. But the way you reacted... what have you gotten yourself into, kit?" 

I explained about the masked mage I'd been forced to defend myself against, and how the fact that I'd bested him so easily had drawn a lot of unexpected -- and unwanted -- attention. I kept the details about Lahabrea to myself though. I hoped I would have a chance to speak to Hydaelyn again and learn more, before saying anything that might worry mother. 

"Leave it to you to find a cult of misguided magi and then get on their bad side..." Ma said with disdain. "I meant what I said the other day, you know. You need to be more careful! I could not bear to lose you a second time." 

"I _know_ Ma. I thought I _was_ being careful. If it's any consolation, I forgot to mention that the Elder Seedseer nominated me Envoy for Greenbliss in recognition of my accomplishment. The Gridanians had been after this guy for a while with little success." 

Ma looked over at me, calculating. "You're serious, aren't you? That's wonderful news -- We'll have to tell the Martiarch tomorrow. Positive exposure for our people can only improve our shaky relations with the city... Hmmm... perhaps we can put together a nice dress for you. Get you all prettied up for it." 

I smiled, "I'd love that!" 

She took my hand in hers and squeezed it reassuringly. We walked there rest of the way home in silence, tails brushing each other affectionately. 

There has always been a quality to the ambiance of the Black Shroud after dark makes me feel relaxed and sleepy. Everything, the wind, treefrogs, birds, bats, owls, and even insects all contribute to the forest's calming symphony. It makes it easier to think straight, easier to think things through with my head free of other distractions. My mind wandered to the past two days' events, and even with the forest's aid, still struggled to fully understand it all. 

It had started so innocently -- my first big assignment since rejoining the conjurer's guild in the wake of my disappearance. I'd helped defend the Guardian Tree from an incursion of Ixal, and then all hells had broken loose. I had defeated a black-masked mage and his voidsent on pure adrenaline and instinct. It was nothing to me, but everyone else had been astounded, to the point that Kan-E-Senna had invited me to serve as Envoy for Greenbliss in a few short weeks' time. 

I was actually looking forward to telling Npah about that. This was going to be a big political opportunity for Clan Molkot. The Envoy was almost never an outsider, and _certainly_ never a Keeper of the Moon. 

Later that night, the red-masked devil Lahabrea had turned up, making me fear for my life, but also offering the greatest reward I could have asked for; only for me to go home the next day and find out that even though I finally had my hands on the prize, there was no way I could ever bring myself to use it, due to the horror of how it had been made. Somehow, that rejection itself had become my salvation. 

I'd thought for sure that Lahabrea was going to try to kill me, and before I could even try to come up with a plan, apparently the planet itself had seen fit to step in, simply because I refused the influence of the Ascians. Was it Hydaelyn's power that kept them at bay? And how long would it last? I scraped at my memory, searching desperately for anything I could cobble together for an answer, but nothing definitive came. 

And what was Talah's game with posthumously apologizing? I knew better than most that Talah Molkot did _nothing_ out of the goodness of her heart, so clearly, she wanted something from me. But there had been no demands -- only an invitation to call the village home. Had her invitation somehow extended Hydaelyn's protection against the Ascians to cover the whole village? It was the only guess I could come to with, but there was no way to tell for sure. Not even Npah knew the specifics, other than that her message would prevent much suffering. Whatever her plan was, Talah had taken the details with her to the grave. 

Two entire days with more and more questions, and answers few and far between... One thing I did know, however, was that I was _completely exhausted._

I barely even remembered falling into bed. 


	17. Prompt #17: "Fade"

When we arrived at the aetheryte, Wolekdorf was enshrouded in a thick layer of morning fog drifting up from Longmirror Lake. I took great care to move quietly, to avoid waking any of the Amaro who might still be sleeping. The hulking form of Seto faded into view as we approached his nest, his great head tucked under a wing and snoring with a resounding rumble. 

"Ha... He's still the noisest sleeper I've ever known..." came Ardbert's voice in the back of my mind with wonder. "Let's not wake him just yet..." 

"Alright." I smiled at the enormous feathered creature. "Aww, looks like he had a strap fashioned for the medallion. It looks good on him." 

"Thank you, by the way, for retrieving it. You didn't have to go so far out of your way, but you did, and I appreciate it," Ardbert added. 

I shrugged. "Like I could resist. Especially when it was so trivial to get it back." 

"Trivial? Oh -- right, you _cheat_ \-- Most people can't breathe underwater!" 

"I suppose that's fair," I admitted, taking a seat and leaning back on the edge of Seto's nest. The straw was soft and weathered to perfection, and I couldn't help but feel relaxed. I sighed happily as I sank into the yellow strands. "I think I might be back to my usual self in a few days at this rate. No Light tearing me apart from the inside, no Ascians trying to destroy the world -- for the moment, anyway. I should be the one thanking _you_ for saving me." 

"Wha- Er- I mean... You would have done the same for me. And, really, if we're going to argue over thanks, I should be the one thanking _you_. You didn't _have_ to keep me around." 

"Sure I did. I told you: _No more sacrifices._ Not if I can help it." 

"Even... _this?"_

"What's that supposed to mean?" 

"I mean -- you haven't got any privacy anymore, aside from if I happen to fall asleep. And we still don't know how your wife is going to react, or any of your friends!" 

"Ah. Yeah -- Don't worry about them, Ardbert. Most of them will understand, and the one's who won't -- they'll come around eventually." 

"I hope you're right, Rejah." 

"'Course I am," I blustered, only half-believing it myself. "Hmm... I wonder if the Exarch would think me crazy if I asked for a straw bed in the Pendants suite?" 

"What? _I_ might think you're crazy! Surely you can't find this _anywhere near_ as comfortable as the mattress back in the Crystarium?!" 

"Perhaps not, but there's something to be said for the warmth and scent... It takes me back home. Ma and I didn't have much. A straw mattress in the corner of our one-room house was a lot cheaper and easier to maintain than a 'proper' bed." 

"Wha-- Oh... I -- I'm sorry?" 

"'Nothin to be sorry for. That's just Moonkeepers' lot in the shroud. You grow up poor and under the thumb of the Wood Wailers. Those who _do_ manage to pile up a bit o' Gil are usually inclined to emigrate to La Noscea or Thanalan. They're seen as traitors to the village, though -- Do that, and you can't ever go home again. I could never take that route -- Not me, nor my Ma, even if we had the coin to spare. She's a skilled alchemist, taught me most of what I know on the subject. She absolutely could've made a heap o' Gil if she chose to chase the right recipes. But that's just not how things work if you're proper devoted to Menphina like her. In a Keeper village, everybody within those fences is _family._ Doesn't matter how much you get on each other's nerves; when it comes time to act, _you help your neighbors before you help yourself."_ So near every coin we made in profits went right back into the upkeep of the village and helpin' out the rest of our kind." 

"Wow... I, had no idea you came from such an impoverished background." 

"'Tis what it is. And It helped make me who I am today, so I wouldn't change it for the world." 

"Aye, I can understand that. I grew up on an island off the coast of Kholusia. A small farming village, though we were well off enough for me to have my own bed, my own room, proper trainers when I became interested in blades and such... Not any amount of training would have set me up to fix what those shadowless devils did to my world." 

"No, I don't suppose so. Hells, the Scions only stumbled on to a way to properly kill 'em thanks to--" 

I choked on the name. _Moenbryda._ I'd barely known her, and yet... 

"What's wrong?" Ardbert asked. 

I sighed. "--thanks to another of those sacrifices I mentioned." 

"My condolences." 

"Thanks. But... to get back to your point, you can't beat yourself up about not being ready for them. I know I wasn't when I first encountered them. Each of us has only got this far thanks to our respective stubborn streaks. And you shouldn't -- can't -- blame yourself for the things that went wrong. That's one thing I've learned across my encounters with them -- If you hadn't been around, they'd just have found somebody else to fill the role." 

With a rumble, Seto began to stir. 

"Good morning, sleepy!" I called out while giving a nice stretch of my own. 

"Wha- What? Oh! Good Morning to you, friend! I seem to have dozed off for a morning nap... Such is my wont, I suppose, at my age... hmmm. What brings you to Wolekdorf, young Mystel?" 

I rolled up to a sitting position, then pushed myself off the ground. "I brought you a gift... of sorts." 

Ardbert chuckled internally at being referred to as such. 

"Oh, goodness, Rejah! Whatever for?" 

"Let's just say this gift is for both of us. Both of _you."_

Seto turned his head to the side and gazed at me suspiciously with one of his huge eyes. "I daresay you speak in riddles, little traveler. Whatever do you mean?" 

"Seto... that thing you did once before... can you do it again? Take a look and see if notice anything... different? About me? About my soul?" 

The enormous Amaro closed his eyes, mumbling. "Let's see... hmmm..." 

His eyes snapped open and he reared up slightly and scooted backward from me in surprise. "Bwah, wha-- How? _How is this possible?_ It's... its as if... _Ardbert??"_

I smiled and flicked my ears and swished my tail happily, nodding. "Aye!! He's not gone, Seto! It's a long story, but he's with me now, and he has missed you, very _very_ much." 

"Not... gone?! Ardbert yet _lives?!"_ The news had the ancient feathered creature hopping about the nest like a hatchling. "Oh, oh! Will you give him a message? Can he hear me?" 

Ardbert was _beaming_ at his old friend from the back of my mind, and within moments I was feeling a headache coming on, just like I'd felt earlier in the morning when we first switched out. It gave me an idea. "Ardbert, do you want to try to switch again?" I said aloud. 

"Oh! No! Sorry! I didn't realize I was --", Ardbert stammered within. 

"It's okay," I replied, cutting him off. "Let's try it? It'll be easier than me relaying everything. Maybe... maybe it'll be better if I sit down first, though." I laughed, taking a seat next to the hulking Amaro. I looked up to him. "Just a moment, Seto, we're... very new to this, but we're gonna try to make it so he can talk to you himself." 

Seto was practically trembling with anticipation. "You mean... He'll be able to... You can _do that?"_

I smiled and shrugged at him. "Yeah, I think so? We're gonna try. I'm gonna sit first though. Ardbert's not very good with a tail yet, as we found out this morning, hahaha!" 

"I'm never going to live that down, am I?" came his inward snark, right on cue. 

"Nope," I replied, matter-of-factly. 

Meanwhile, Seto laughed slightly nervously in anticipation, not fully understanding what was going on, but gleeful all the same. 

Then Ardbert hesitated. "You're _sure_ that you don't mind--" 

"Shhh." I cut him off, closing our eyes. "Come on, we did it once already. Maybe it'll be easier this time." I laid back down and tried to relax and let Ardbert come to the front. It took a solid minute or two, and the headache got much worse, but eventually, we managed it. 

Ardbert, now in control, looked up and shakily put our hand on his old friend's side. "Seto! My old friend! You've grown!" 

"Ardbert? Ardbert, is that you? _Truly??"_

"As sure as the day you lured out the Amber Terror, my friend. Full glad am I that Rejah was able to return your medal to you!" 

"Oh, Ardbert!! _Oh, how I've missed you!"_ came the Amaro's tearful reply. He leaned into our outstretched hand with a happy rumble. "I'm sorry I couldn't keep you safe... Or even console you. Had I only learnt to speak sooner, I would have told you how much you meant to me, how much I cared..." 

"I knew, Seto. I always knew," Ardbert replied in my voice. "But I'm happy to hear it nonetheless. Thank you, Seto. My partner in crime." 

The Amaro rumbled affectionately again, rubbing his neck on us like a love-drunk kitten. "So... Your journey continues, then? With Rejah?! Oh, how this news fills me with joy... But -- But -- However did this come to be?" he wondered. 

My heart soared at their reunion. Had I been in front, I'm sure we'd be sobbing already. Silently I urged, "Ardbert, I'll leave the storytelling to you. Take as much time as you need." 

Ardbert smiled and looked down, tears finally welling up in our eyes. "Rejah... I-- I don't have the words to thank you enough for this." 

Ardbert braved shakily standing us up, so he could wrap both arms around his old friend's feathered neck and embrace him properly. Then, he began to tell our tale. I commented inwardly with extra details now and again to help him along, but other than that, I remained silent. 

Ardbert stayed in front and talked with Seto at length over the better part of the morning. Seto even introduced us to some of the younger Amaro and a visiting Nu Mou as we explained how Ardbert had saved me, and I, him. 

It was somewhere amongst these conversations that true comfort with my new situation finally began to crystalize in my mind. What had been bluster and reassurances for Ardbert's sake were replaced with true affirmations and confidence. Seeing this reunion had made _everything_ we'd been through worth it, and I wouldn't have had things any other way. And the way that Ardbert spoke to Seto, and the differences in the way that he told our story from how I might have done it... it helped me realize as well that we weren't quite so identical as our shared soul might lead one to assume. 

He and I -- Each of us had been shaped by our own lifetime's worth of decisions and memories. Through our experiences, we had become vastly unique individuals, regardless of whoever's soul fragments we'd inherited. And in our new shared existence, we each brought unique skills, insights, and ideas into the new whole. 

Together, I thought, we would become more than either of us had ever been on our own. Together, we would become _greater_ than the sum of our parts. 


	18. Prompt #18: "Panglossian"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alright alright, I get it, the $50-word prompts are gonna keep coming. Hmmm... This one *does* sound particularly like Urianger...
> 
> Panglossian: excessively optimistic

On the balcony above Rowena's House of Splendors, I sat, poking at the last remnants of my soup, watching Urianger fiddling with the knobs on a convoluted-looking device he called a 'telescope.' Soon, he stood up from the eyepiece and caught me watching. 

"Is there aught I may render in assistance, my lady?" 

"No? Maybe. I've been wondering." 

He tilted his head curiously. 

"You said that thing --" I nodded at the instrument "-- can see distant stars, right? And that those stars might contain entire worlds of their own, aye?" 

"Some indeed speculate such, though the evidence availed mankind thus far is most regrettably inconclusive." 

"Hmm..." I mumbled pensively. "Do you suppose... Do you suppose G'raha's alternate timeline is somewhere among them? Or perhaps some _when_ , or... beyond, somehow? Some alternate reality?" 

Urianger cast his eyes down. "I dare not speculate. Lacking proper evidence, no Astrologian may claim knowledge of fates so distant our own." 

I looked down, a bit disappointed. I wasn't sure what I had hoped to hear, but in retrospect, I should have expected a non-answer. 

"Though," Urianger continued, "Thy question doth prompt a recollection; By thine own tale were the parting words of the Primal Alexander recorded -- It did entrust the future of this star to thee, and in so doing, predicted thy actions wouldst carry thee beyond its foresight. Could it be that thy and Master G'raha's actions did enshroud the future from Alexander's perception? 

I was entirely too tired to process Urianger-speak with any speed this late at night. Ardbert had even dozed off in my mind already, and it was well past time for me to head off to our own bed in The Dawn's Respite. "Urianger... You'll have to explain all that to me tomorrow. I think... Honestly, I don't know what I wanted you to say. I guess I was just looking for _hope._ Hope beyond hope, I suppose, that those whos sacrifices saved me, the First, Ardbert, G'raha -- _everything_ \-- that they didn't simply vanish into the void by virtue of what we did with their gift. That they had a chance to go on, and even without the Warrior of Light, might have managed to save their world despite it all." 

Urianger looked at me, and one corner of his mouth curled slowly upward into a slight smile. "Thine wishes are refreshing and panglossian as ever, Mistress Tavi. I can avail thee no better guidance than this: Offer to these brave souls thine most fervent of prayers, and keep thy gratitude for their toils in thy thoughts, always." 

I smiled back at him and nodded. That much, I had understood perfectly. 


	19. Prompt #19: "Where The Heart Is"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This will be something of an epilogue, once I finish my planned bigger fic. This has been rattling around in my head since 5.3 dropped, and I figured that this prompt was the perfect excuse to get it roughed out.

Nero greeted us as I stepped over a heavy bundle of cables snaking their way through the open door of the Ocular. "Well, well, if it isn't Rejah and Arda! _You're late."_

I rubbed the bridge of our nose in exasperation, and Arda rolled her eyes inwardly. We had no need of his glibness this afternoon. "Aye, the meetings took longer than expected." 

"Tsk, tsk. Save the world a dozen times over, and this is the thanks you get. Dragged in to serve as _babysitter_ between the populares and their naysayers." 

"I'm called a _mediator_ , but aye, you may as well be right." I lamented. "Dalmasca is still holding out for additional seats in the new Senate. Bozja has withdrawn from negotiations entirely, favoring independence unless they can get further reparations for the Bozja Incident, but without their industry, Maxima fears that the fledgling republic will fail economically. And for some reason, everyone's turning to _me_ as if I'll magically have all the answers. Poor Arda fell asleep out of sheer boredom... I wish I could have joined her. The whole thing is a mess. I do think we vastly prefer problems we can throw spells at or hit with an axe." 

"Ah, home sweet home. Garlemald hasn't changed a bit," Nero snarked. 

I simply shook my head, then Cid caught my eye as he approached. 

"Ah, welcome! Fret not being late, my friends. The Mark II Tycoon is online but only running at 98% of nominal -- not good enough! Biggs and Wedge are down in the understory with it now, making final adjustments." 

"Do you think it will work this time?" I asked, glancing over at a rounded archway surrounded by a nest of heavy machinery, plumbing, and cables, that occupied the space where the now-dormant mirror was on the First. 

"I think we've got it now -- but there's only one way to find out!" he remarked with a fist-pump. 

"That's what you said _last_ time." Arda snarked out loud. She and I were both secretly beginning to wonder if this would work at all. 

Cid just smiled his usual confident smile and went back to barking orders at his underlings, and juggling linkshell calls. 

I planted my staff and rested our chin on it lazily, ready to doze off myself as we waited another few minutes for the Ironworks' contraption to be ready. 

I rocked gently under the weight of a friendly hand massaging my neck. Tilting my head lazily to the side revealed the red-eyed face of a dear friend. "Good afternoon, Raha." 

"Where's Astraea?" he wondered aloud. 

"Still at the palace, guarding Maxima closely, and making sure violence doesn't break on the negotiation floor. I daresay her glare has had more of a productive impact on negotiations than all of my talking put together." 

G'raha glanced away uncomfortably, "Oh, Don't remind me." 

Arda and I both laughed, then I replied. "You're never going to get over that, are you? She's long since forgiven you, you know." 

_"You_ weren't the one she was ready to slice in twain for separating her from her wife!" he exclaimed. "Needless to say... with her extra, ahem, _motivation_ \-- I was able to summon you properly on the very next try." 

I sighed. "It's hard to believe it's been almost five years since you and the Scions returned to the source... three since our Warrior-of-Darkness-Only portal in the trench collapsed... It's a good thing our aetheryte attunements have held across the rift, even if they're exhausting to use comparatively." I stared back at the prototype, quietly until Arda gave me a mental reminder. "Oh, right. Arda says I should remind you that, as you requested, we still haven't told Lyna that we're trying this. Are you _absolutely sure_ we shouldn't go and warn her before the Dossal Gates slide open unexpectedly?" 

"No! No... I dare not get the Exarch's hopes up. I know what it takes to run the Crystarium, and no doubt, she has plenty on her mind without us adding to it. If this works, it will be a wonderous surprise for her. If it doesn't, well... we'll just have to keep trying." 

"Aye. I can't imagine how you feel. Things are awkward enough for Arda and me, each of us feeling more at home on opposite sides of the rift, but at least we can split the difference and visit both routinely. We can't imagine not being able to go home _at all."_

"Home? Hmm..." he looked unsure. 

"Come now, Raha. None of that. Your body may be from Sharalyan, but you lived an entire _lifetime_ in the First. You know what they say -- home is where the heart is. And I daresay you left yours in the Crystarium." 

"Heh. An unfortunate statue, too..." he said morbidly, closing his eyes and shaking his head. "You may be right, though. Ever did you have a way with words, my friends." 

I stood up and pulled him into a sideways hug while we both looked on at the portal. "Don't worry. The Ironworks _will_ succeed eventually. And it won't take two hundred years this time, either, thanks to the records and blueprints I recovered from the remote tower with your talisman for access. Cid assures me it will function once they work out all the bugs." 

"I hope you're right." 

"It has to. You have a granddaughter to visit, and _we're_ looking forward to not getting worn out from making several crossings in a day when we need to." 

He looked nervous. 

"Or, if you prefer to think about business, you have an expedition into the empty to lead! It's going to be _my_ turn to adventure at _your_ side! And I have every confidence that you'll be able to solve the need for farmland that Lyna brought to your attention in her letters. Hells, with any luck this could become the groundwork for reclaiming the empty! We may have saved the First, but we're far from finished with fixing the damage the Ascians caused." 

A magitek console chose that moment to explode in a shower of sparks across the room. 

"Dammit!" Cid cursed, "Shut it down! We've got another surge in the navigation core! Wedge, get down to sublevel twenty-three and see what went wrong!" 

"Already on my way, Boss!" came the Lalafell's static-laden reply over the comms, as all of the machinery spun down and went quiet. 

"I take it no portal today, Master Cid?" I asked with a sigh. 

The lead engineer shook his head and scratched the back of his neck, dismayed. 

It was just as well. We could use some decent rest. 

\----- Two Days Later ----- 

I clutched G'raha's hand and gave him a smirk and a friendly flick of our tail as the machinery spun up once more. This time, there were no explosions. I leaped into the air and shouted in celebration when reality itself split open under the mechanical arch. 

"Your Ironworks is as terrifying as ever, Rejah", Arda commented within. 

I just smirked back at her, laughing. "I know, right?" 

This new system was much refined, compared to the old arcane portal. We could actually _see through it_ into the dim ocular on the far side, a perfect mirror image of the room we already stood in. We knew better than to rush anything though, and waited for Cid and Nero's assessment. 

"The portal link is established!" Nero called out, "Astromancy readings stabilizing in three... two... _oh my._ According to this, temporal drift is not merely _minimal_ as Rejah suspected, but absolutely negligible! It seems that the timelines have remained completely synchronized since her first crossing!" 

"Very good news indeed, Nero!" Cid called back. "It seems your causality-anchoring theorem held water after all! Now, send in the mammet!" 

"Mammet program initiated. Releasing in three... two... _one."_ Nero called back while typing furiously at his console. 

A tiny clockwork figure emerged from below the garlean's station and ran without hesitation through the portal into the other ocular. It paused, looked around, and darted out of view. 

Moments later it came back, dragging the small shard of unaspected crystal I had left for it a few days prior on the far side, proving that the connection went into the Ocular on the First. I had decided not to think too hard about why Cid decided this test was necessary -- The implication that he thought it possible that we might connect to an Ocular that did _not_ have such a left-behind crystal absolutely boggled my mind, and I hated thinking about it. Fortunately, that particular concern seemed to have been for naught. 

Nero took the returned crystal and Mammet and ran them both under some sort of scanner. "Readings all appear normal. This crystal's readings are consistent with the signatures of other items Rejah has temporarily left in the first for similar amounts of time. Furthermore, the Mammet has not been negatively affected by the crossovers. Interference from rift energies is under zero-point-two percent and holding steady. The portal appears to be functioning within nominal parameters. It looks safe!" 

Finally, Cid turned to us and gestured an invitation toward the portal. "Alright my friend, as the only one here that can return should something go awry, I think it would be wise for you to perform the first test of the new _Garlond Ironworks Interdimensional Bridge._ Then you can come back, and we can shut down and review the readings for a more serious foray next week." 

G'raha squeezed my hand anxiously. I already knew what he was thinking, and ah, what the hells. Why not? 

"Actually Cid, I think we've waited long enough. We'll go together, and you can shut down or do whatever you need to and restore it for G'raha to return later. Don't worry, I have a backup plan in case anything prevents the link from returning," I replied, thinking of the Crystal of Azem that was mounted solidly inside my choker. We never took it off, these days. 

Cid nodded nervously. He knew better than to argue once the Warrior of Light had made up her mind about something. With that, G'raha and I stepped through the portal, remarkably uneventfully. In fact, the moment that the remote tower detected G'raha's presence, it kindly brought the lights up slowly for us. 

With a curious gaze, G'raha raised his staff and gave it a slight pulse of aether, which the First's Tower answered with an attuning pulse of its own. "Well, that was simple. The systems here still respond to me as easily as ever," he announced. 

"Careful not to let him say that too loud, or he'll curse it," Arda snarked inwardly. 

\----- 

It took nearly a quarter bell to descend the thousands of steps from the ocular to the inner face of the Dossal gate. With another slight gesture from G'raha, the doors flared, rippling with blue arcane energies, and parted for us. 

"HALT!" immediately came a familiar voice as a dozen warding spells sprung to life in front of us and barred our way. _"Who goes there?!"_

The doors had opened to a _crowd_ of Crystarium guards packed around the doors in a semicircle. 

I stood in front of G'raha and waived at Lyna, who had just closed up the center of the formation. 

Her ears flopped downward and slightly to the sides, as she lowered her chakrams. "War-- Warrior of Darkness?" She looked to her mage corps and barked, "Drop barriers! Send word to the Mean -- we have a guest for dinner!" She hooked her weapons back onto her belt and rushed forward as the shields fell, stopping a few paces short of us. 

"Surprise?" I shrugged. 

"I wish you would have told us you were coming, my lady," she said seriously. "You gave us quite the fright. The tower's been going _mad_ , making all kinds of strange noises for the past few days! What in the _world_ have you been doing in there??" 

"Hah. Making the _new portal_ a surprise, ah... that would be _your predecessor's_ bright idea." I stepped aside and gestured at G'raha sheepishly. 

"Lyna...?" G'raha asked, eyes watering up. 

"Grandfather...?!" she shouted through tears of her own. 

The two rushed together and hugged. Lyna scooped G'raha straight off the ground and held him so tight that Arda and I figured we'd never be able to pry the sobbing, happy-crying pair apart. 

When she finally set him down, Lyna was a stammering mess. "How?! You're here, and-- _young??_ I had heard from the Warrior that your vessel had worked but-- but-- to see you again in the flesh?! I had never dared hope! How many years-- years!" Her head hung heavy as she tried to catch her breath, then looked to me. "Thank you, Thank you ever so much for bringing him back to us. Back to _me."_

"It wasn't us." I corrected, throwing my hands up. "It was the Garlond Ironworks, back home. Cid, Nero, Biggs, and Wedge, mostly. Hopefully, you'll get to meet them all in a few day's time." 

"More will come?" she wondered aloud. 

"Aye, if you'll allow it. We'll have to proceed carefully, but we hope that you'll be able to visit our world as well, and tour our headquarters and beyond, should you desire it. We're working on a more permanent connection and hope to form a partnership between the Crystarium and the Scions. This is what I meant last week when I told you I had something up my sleeve to help with the farmland situation." 

"The Scions may return as well?" Lyna asked to confirm she'd heard me right, eyes wide. 

She turned to another nearby officer. "Go, instruct the Master of Suites to ensure rooms in the Pendants are made ready for their return." 

The guard took several moments to register the command and pull his star-struck gaze away from us. Finally, he shook it off and snapped a salute. "Yes, Madam Exarch! Right away!" He rushed off to carry out his orders. 

I smiled, but then our ears flicked backward at the sound of approaching pounding footsteps _behind_ us. Startled, I spun around and froze. "Y'Shtola?" I questioned with shock. 

Y'Shtola ignored and casually brushed past G'raha and me, and tipped her head at Lyna. "If it makes things easier, you may forego readying my suite for a time, as I daresay I've been away from the Night's Blessed quite long enough. I will be in Slitherbough, should anyone have need of me," she announced properly. 

I looked at her, mouth agape. "Y'sht-- I mean, _Master Matoya_ \-- I thought Cid wasn't letting anyone else through until next week?!" 

"Really, Rejah, and let him keep my friends waiting? Cid will just have to make sure he works out any kinks before I find need to return," she said with a wink and a smirk. 

_"Now_ who's being reckless?" I replied, crossing our arms. 

"Hmm... I daresay you've been rubbing off on me, my dear. Now then, no more lip from you," she waggled a finger at me, "For _I_ have an amaro flight to catch." 

With that, she strode past a pair of confused-looking guards and marched off across the Exedra towards the stairs that would take her up to the Amaro Launch. 

"That woman _still_ terrifies me," Arda admitted inwardly, prompting a chuckle from me. 

G'raha burst out laughing. "Honestly? I'm not surprised," he stated matter-of-factly. "We _really_ should have seen that one coming." 

I sighed and shrugged. "Aye, I suppose so -- Runar is in for quite the surprise tonight, isn't he?" I laughed. 

"Indeed, it seems he is, my friends," Lyna said, leaning in to hug G'raha again and burying her face in his hair. "Now, grandfather, no more talk of business until we've been to the Mean for refreshments. I'll have them whip up a batch of those lemon tarts you so adore. This occasion requires _celebration!_ " 

G'raha started to counter, "Lyna, really, that's not necessary --" 

Then she grabbed his shoulders and spun him to face her, and shushed him with a finger before her lips. 

G'raha froze, taken aback. 

Lyna gave him a playful smirk and continued. "In case you have forgotten, dear grandfather -- you are _a retired old man_ and _I_ carry the title of Exarch now. So I will hear no further arguments from you. You will spend _every waking moment_ in this Crystarium _relaxing_ until I say otherwise! Understood?" 

G'raha swallowed. "Yes, dear. Of course," he replied with a nervous smile. 

I started laughing again as she dragged him off in the direction of the Mean. I couldn't help but smile so wide it hurt. 

"G'raha got a bit more than he bargained for, didn't he?" Arda snarked, laughing as well. 

"Aye. She'll get him back threefold for not warning her about the portal, I reckon," I cackled back. "What do you say we give them some space and go drop in on Seto again? It's been a few weeks." 

"I thought you'd never ask." 

I called up my attunement to Wolekdorf, and let Arda switch to the front as we rematerialized near the old Amaro's nesting grounds. "I am _exhausted,_ my friend. I think I'm going to take a nap while you two catch up." 

"Sleep well, Rejah," she replied, walking us up the hill toward her old steed. 

I was happier and more content than I'd been in a moon, as I let my consciousness wind down to rest. This was the beginning of another wonderful chapter of our adventures. _I could feel it._


	20. Prompt #20: Free Write ("Friends")

"I never did get to thank you, G'raha... for just... letting me be me." 

My voice echoed in the desolate stone corridor as I leaned my back against the stone frame of the enormous golden doors. 

"...this is so stupid, I know you can't even hear me. But I've got nobody right now. I could really use a friend..." 

My thoughts turned to the Scions -- for all I knew, they were wall captured or dead, save Alphinaud and Cid. Alphinaud... well, he was naive, and he had his own problems to work through right now. And Cid wasn't much of a 'people person' to be fair. He was much better at dealing with machines than other people's emotions. 

We'd escaped through the ruins of Sil'Dih, fled via coach past Black Brush Station, across the whole of Thanalan, and finally had taken refuge at the camp of the Sons of St. Coinach for the night, on our way to Coerthas. Level-headedness his core strength, Rammbroes was one of the few people I felt we could still trust not to turn us over to the authorities on sight. 

"I'm in... so much trouble, G'raha, and I don't even mean the petty political _goobue snot_ that brought me here. The Scions are probably all on trial or dead by now, and there's nothing I can do, unless I want to have a bloody march through thousands of innocent pawns... So no... they're out of my reach. Alphinaud, Cid, and I are headed to Coerthas to take refuge until things blow over, or we can figure out a way to clear our names... but I'm not ready to think about any of that yet. No, right now I'm feeling like an idiot for not... having an emergency stockpile somewhere or something like that. Yeah. _I'm more worried about my godsdamned Fantasia supply_ of all things. Fuck, I hate to admit that. Hah. Now I really do sound like an addict!" 

I paused for an uncomfortable breath. 

"Remember when you got the wrong tent and accidentally walked in on me brewing that night, early in the process of opening the tower? I was _so worried_ you might think I was making something illicit, I just had to blurt out an explanation... Wasn't too bright, was it? _Pffft."_

I shook my head, thinking about how stupid that had been. I'd never forgotten how he responded, though. _"Rejah! Rejah, calm down! It's fine! You could have been making tea for all I know! Please, please, don't worry -- your secret is safe with me."_ Then he'd smiled and winked, and that had been the end of it. 

He hadn't minded in the slightest. 

He hadn't started calling me "He" or asking about my deadname or any of that nonsense. 

It... It had opened my eyes. 

He'd been the first person other than my mother that I'd trusted with my gender identity, however accidentally or otherwise, who hadn't immediately thrown it back in my face. 

I addressed the door once more. "You know... after you showed me that people could be decent about my... situation? I-- I was thinking about reaching out to the Scions, explaining things. They might have been able to help me with supply so I didn't have to keep disappearing on them to go gathering... It could have made everything so much easier. They could have helped me plan better. I could have had a... backup stash or something, in case just this sort of thing happened! But... I was afraid. And I waited too long. Now I've lost the chance to discuss it on my terms. No. Alphinaud is about to get a very rude awakening if I can't replenish my stocks. The Wailers have already been notified, I'm sure, which means visiting the Shroud is out of the question, and without that... I can't get key ingredients -- unless _maybe_ I can make enough money to buy them through the markets in Ishgard..." 

I trailed off, feeling a bit silly. I'm not sure why I'd felt the need to come down here and talk to a stupid door in the middle of the night. It wasn't even doing much to help me feel better. 

I breathed in and out slowly, trying to relax, but it was no use. My heart rate was still through the roof. I was going to have to ration, and worse, _willingly_ start reverting some of my hard-won progress, in order to prepare for and soften the withdrawal process -- just to make sure I didn't simply _die_ when I inevitably ran out. 

There was a very real possibility that for the first time in over 15 years, Rukoh'a would be coming back, at least physically, and there was absolutely _nothing_ I could do about it. And what's more... I didn't even have anyone already in the know who I could whine about it to. 

My frustration built until I swung my fist out to the side and slammed it into the force field protecting the doors. It rebounded with a crackle of arcing lightning, and I flinched back in pain. 

I cradled my arm and didn't bother healing it. Instead, I let the fresh burns simmer and fuel my frustration's transition into seething fury. "Fucking Allagan piece of shite..." 

"G'raha! _Do you hear me??_ Why you?! Why, godsdammit? I thought we agreed we were friends?! Well, I need you now! _So open this godsdamned door!"_ I screamed over my shoulder. 

I waited for a few moments -- as if I truly expected a response. I hoped beyond hope that something, anything would happen. But it was folly. 

My face finally fell into my hands, and I had no choice but to just let the tears flow. 

_What in the seven hells am I going to to do now?_

Never had I felt lonelier in my entire life. 


	21. Prompt #21: "Foibles"

"Alphinaud." 

His eyes remained downcast, the flickering light of the campfire catching against them in the cold Coerthan night. 

"Alphinaud, can you hear me?" I called again. 

"Oh!" he glanced at me but quickly averted his gaze. "Apologies, Miss Tavi, my thoughts still weigh heavy." 

"I do not doubt that... For what it's worth, though, I think your heart has ever been in the right place," I encouraged. 

Silence passed uncomfortably for several moments, then Alphinaud glanced up at me morbidly. "Then you too, I fear, share my foibles. We are both far too trusting of others." 

"It's not a _foible_ to want to see the good in everyone, Alphinaud. I _refuse_ to believe that." 

"Then perhaps even the vaunted _Warrior of Light_ is just as naive as I," he snarked. 

"Stop it," I chastised. 

He glanced at me, shrugged, and cast his eyes away. 

I closed my eyes in frustration. Perhaps I _should_ tell him -- Alphinaud always was at his very best with a problem to solve in front of him. Better to do it now and get him engaged ahead of time, rather than let him find out when I inevitably got sick. "You don't understand, Alphinaud... I'm going to need your help with something very... personal. And very soon." 

"I find it hard to believe that _you_ of all people could find want to depend on _me_ for _anything_ right now," he said, dejected. 

His dismissive tone angered me. "Listen, _Young Master_ , If you're going to keep pouting like a _child,_ then I _will_ start treating you like one. But I think we both know you're stronger and more mature than that. _You made a miscalculation._ Your tactics were not _perfect._ Get over it. Learn and move forward. I-- _I need you to,_ because," I choked up a bit, "because I -- I might not survive what's coming for me if you don't." 

As I ranted, his expression morphed through guilt, indignancy, anger, and finally, concern. After a few speechless moments, his brows leveled, and I could tell my outburst had had the intended effect. He was in problem-solving mode once more. 

"Miss Tavi?" he questioned. 

"I've told you before, call me Rejah. Please. _Especially right now."_

"Okay. _Rejah._ ...whatever is the matter? Do you mean to imply something ails you _beyond_ our present situation?" 

_"Aye,"_ I admitted, tearing up slightly as I rummaged in my pack. I retrieved and folded open a small padded bandolier of four tubular vials. Three were filled just short of the stopper with a pale, viscous, silvery-blue liquid; a moon's supply, were they all full. I handed it to him gingerly. "This is why I always return to the Shroud at least once a moon, whether I visit home or not. I need ingredients to brew more. Rare ones, I often gather myself." 

He gently wobbled the bandolier, watching the contents of the vials and frowning. "I am afraid my alchemy experience is limited at best. I don't recognize this substance, but by your demeanor, I can only deduce that this is medication -- without which, you will suffer?" He glanced at me with wide eyes. "It is wise for you to keep secret such a... vulnerability." 

"Astutely reasoned," I said, taking the precious bandolier back. "These vials are taken every sennight. So I have less than a moon left. I intend to stretch it to nearly two moons by tapering the dose over time. I would prefer not to stop it at all, if possible, but without access to the Black Shroud or the Alliance's markets -- I -- I'm not sure I can count on having that opportunity." 

"I shall not press for details," he began, his eyes visibly shifting as he started thinking about options, "What would you ask of me?" 

I set the bandolier in my lap and leaned over it, clutching my face in my palms, dreading what I had to admit next. 

"It's okay, my friend. Take your time," he intoned softly. That was one of the things I admired about Alphinaud -- whatever his personal problems, as soon as a friend had need of him, you could count on him to be there. 

"The Rejah Tavi you know -- she _is_ the real me. I cannot stress that enough," I began, "Would that my _body_ understood that fact. These vials contain _Fantasia Minor."_

Alphinaud visibly flinched, and hastily tried to blink away the surprise from his expression. 

"Ah. So you've heard of it," I commented, "Well -- Allow me to dispel the myths. It operates _nothing_ like the mystery novellas would have you believe. And the variant I use is nothing like the mythical 'True Fantasia,' of ancient Nym, either. The modern version is much more limited. It is a very gradual, delicate, and deliberate thing, not to be taken lightly or used for trick disguises. Nor is its withdrawal a plot-convenient instant reveal." 

"Ah, yes-- fiction _does_ have a way of taking liberties with the complexities of modern aetherology," his eyes were all business now, his attention rapt upon me, waiting for me to elaborate further. 

"Alphinaud, I... I have a great deal of suffering coming, both physically and mentally, if I am forced to lapse on doses. I may need you to care for me, manage renting a room for the duration, obtaining food and water, finding a chiurgeon who can be discrete -- things like that." 

"Of course. You need only ask, and I will see to it that you are afforded anything you need," he looked taken aback, almost offended that I would consider this a burden upon him. 

"There is more," I added painfully, "in the end... I will not look like the Rejah Tavi you know. But I _need_ you to not treat me any differently, regardless. Can you do that for me? Please?" 

"Of course. You needn't even ask," he assured me, but his expression betrayed that he wanted to say something further. 

"Alphinaud? ...What is it? I'm happy to answer any questions you may have. I'll not be offended, whatever they are." 

"No, no-- it's, not like that. I haven't encountered the substance in person before, but, I must admit that I have already done some extensive research on this subject; full aware am I of the dangers you now face. You see -- I have an _associate,_ who may benefit from this selfsame substance, but who has feared reaching out to anyone about it, save me. It... It is not my place to reveal their identity, but... with your permission... perhaps..." he wrung his hands anxiously. 

I smiled for the first time today. "Of course, Alphinaud. Any friend of yours is a friend of mine. I'd be happy to speak with them and share what I know." 

"Thank you," he nodded, "I know not when I'll see them again, given our circumstances, but full glad am I to know that there is a trusted expert upon whom they can call. It means a lot to me." 

"This associate has a wonderful friend in you, Alphinaud," I remarked, wondering if he was referring to Alisae; I'd had some suspicions during our descent through the Coils, but of course, it hadn't been my place to say anything. 

He shrugged modestly. 

"Well... Thank you for hearing me out... But I suppose we should turn in if we're to set out for Dragonhead at dawn," I suggested. 

"Aye. Enjoy tonight's meager warmth, my friend. It may be our last for some time," he offered with a pensive smile. 


	22. Prompt #22: "Argy-bargy" ("Loud Bickering")

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I had to look this one up.
> 
> It's british slang for what I would call "loud bickering." So I'm going with that.

I closed the door behind me with a gentle click and timidly looked around the space that I would evidently call home for the foreseeable future. 

The entire Fortemps estate _reeked_ of opulence, and my quarters were no exception. Rich, deep red argyle-patterned wallpaper covered the walls from the baseboards to the lavish molding. The floor was intricately tiled and polished to a glossy white sheen, only to be covered over by several finely woven ornate rugs to stave off the Coerthan chill. 

In the corner nearest the door, a softly flickering fire graced a stone fireplace, complete with lavishly decorated hearthstones and a marble mantle carved with an intricate relief of a battle scene; dozens of dragoons piercing the hearts of dragons. Oddly, there was no chimney, no smoke, no ash -- closer investigation revealed it to be pure elemental fire, summoned from a generous supply of clusters. I winced. The radiant heat was just as comforting and welcome as that of a wood fire, but the alchemist in me couldn't help but cringe at such a lavish expenditure of valuable reagents. 

On the opposite side of the door from the fireplace, a gilded and sapphire-encrusted pendulum clock stood tall and proud, ticking softly. It sported no less than seven separate dials, complete with astrological readouts, day of the year, moon phases, eclipse timings, and half a dozen other things I couldn't even begin to parse, all wrapped around a motif of spears that came in threes, the sign of The Fury. 

A single ruby near the edge of the largest dial drew my eye -- I scoffed aloud when I discerned that it indicated the rising and setting of Dalamud. This tiny glinting gem still orbited the clock's rim, dutifully predicting the movements of that which no longer existed. 

It struck me so strangely, this tiny glint of faithful red in a sea of gold and blue... after all I had been through, after all the red moon's fall had set in motion -- this little gem was oblivious to it all. For a strange moment, I couldn't help but wonder what it felt like to _be_ that ruby. 

My reflection in the polished golden dial caught my eye, pulling me out of the crystal's depths. I raised my fingers to touch my face, just below my one red eye, the one that the Clanslore used to say was good luck and the mark of a soul destined to never stray far from Menphina's light -- The eye that represented the moon that the Matriarch had long since taken to calling the bastard hound -- The eye that so reminded me of a dear friend's face, forever sealed behind a gleaming golden gate. 

I turned away from the clock with a downcast glance and a heavy sigh. 

Centered on the far wall of the cavernous space, there stood an enormous four-poster bed draped in pink lace and sheer. The quilt below was fairly plain relative to the rest of the room; a simple diamond-checker pattern of pinks and whites with red stitching. Ironically, its comparative _plainness_ was highly effective at drawing the eye to it as the centerpiece of the room's decor. 

The sheer scale of the accommodation awed me as well. Clearly designed for the tall-framed Elezens that dominated Ishgardian society, the mattress rose to the height of my neck. Thoughtfully, a small set of wooden stairs had been left at the bedside for my convenience. 

I approached a sliding door inset into the sidewall, expecting a closet, but opening it revealed an equally luxurious oblong private bath. A waterfall in one corner burbled quietly as the pre-heated water let off inviting steam. It was easily large enough to submerge a dozen of me, but that could wait. 

I slid the door shut and, rather than attempting to pull myself up onto the comically oversized wooden rocker next to the equally huge armoire, I decided to simply use the bed. I discarded my heavy jacket and travel pack onto a shelf beneath the nightstand, then tossed my staff to onto the bed, wanting to keep it close. A little paranoia struck me as healthy of late. 

I fell into the padded quilt and felt as if I were sinking into a cloud. 

As distasteful as I found the rest of the manor's opulence, this was an indulgence I would happily embrace. 

\----- 

I was roused around a half-bell later by a repeated chiming sound. Figuring it to be the clock, I ignored it at first, but it became more insistent -- until I heard the door unlatch. 

In a panicked half-awake flurry, I rolled off the bed, putting it between me and the door, drew my staff, and raised my barriers. A shriek of surprise rang out from the entryway. 

"Terribly sorry miss!! When you didn't come for the door chime I figured I ought to check on you, begging your pardon, milady!" 

I peeked around the foot of the bed, only to find a horribly embarrassed-looking hyuran woman with both hands over her mouth. She wore the most ridiculously frumpy maid get-up I'd ever seen. 

"Oh, um... hi? Sorry -- that was my fault, actually -- I -- I didn't know what that sound was, miss...?" 

She shook off her embarrassment, then rolled her shoulders back and took up a stately posture. "I am called Aeliza, Miss Tavi," she began with a curtsey, "I have been assigned to help you prepare for dinner. My assistant, Orissa, will arrive shortly with your garments." 

"Ga-- Garments?" I did not like where this was going. 

"But of course! Such an honored guest as an esteemed _Warrior of Light_ mustn't attend her _Welcome Gala_ in mere _adventuring garb,"_ she said with disdain. 

"Welcome Gala?" I rolled my eyes. "Must I?" 

She giggled. "Yes, madame. Such is the will of the Lord Fortemps; as his Ward, you are duty-bound to attend." 

"Are you sure you even have anything that will fit me? I'm not exactly Hyur or Elezen sized." I wondered aloud, gesturing at my tiny frame, desperately hoping that this would at least get me out of changing. 

"Oh, fret not! Your lovely Miss Taru was gracious enough to mail us your measurements, dinner preferences, among other things, well ahead of time." 

I grumbled. _Of course she did._ On the one hand, at least I wouldn't be expected to eat anything _weird,_ but on the other... I dreaded what sort of ridiculous outfit Ishgardian society might have dreamt up for me. 

I didn't have to wait long -- Orissa, a midlander in an equally-ridiculous yet slightly less-decorated maid outfit, swept gracefully into the room with no less than three bundled outfits draped over an outstretched arm, and some sort of stool slung under the other. Wordlessly, she danced over to me and planted the stool at my feet with a resounding thud, before sidling over to the Armoire to hang the various bagged garments within. 

"Thank you, Orissa. Miss Tavi, please step on to the dais," came the sing-song voice of Aeliza. 

I rolled my shoulders back with a huff. "I'm not getting out of this, am I?" 

Chin up, the older, taller maid gave me an amused smirk and confidently waited for my compliance. 

Reluctantly, I tossed my staff onto the bed and stepped up onto the platform. 

Aeliza and Orissa took this as their cue to descend upon me like a pair of voracious hawks. Before I could react, I'd been stripped down to my smallclothes, spun about, measured, inspected, poked, and prodded. I was suddenly extremely grateful my supplies of Fantasia had held out this long. Had this happened otherwise, I am sure I would have died on the spot from dysphoria-driven embarrassment. As it was, it was merely _extremely awkward._

"Step down," Aeliza barked, taking my hand. 

I complied, wanting to simply get this over with at this point. 

Orissa nudged me to face her with a remarkably effective single finger to the side of my chin. She looked uncomfortably closely back and forth between my eyes, muttering, then seemed to come to a decision about something, and shoved me back to facing Aeliza equally wordlessly. 

Aeliza took my hand and half-dragged me around the bed and marched me straight into the bath. "Strip," she commanded. 

"What?! _No!"_ I protested. 

"You _must_ be freshly bathed before your dressing! It will be much quicker if I assist." 

"Whoa whoa -- NO! Not happening!" I shouted indignantly, "Get out! I can manage it myself!" 

Aeliza looked puzzled. "Have I done something to offend? Do you not trust--" 

I groaned in exasperation cutting her off. "Let me guess, this is _completely normal_ for you, isn't it?" 

Aeliza tilted her head. "Lord Fortemps himself instructed that you, as our guest and a Ward of this House, should be treated no differently than his own children." 

I rubbed my temples. "Okay, no -- Just. Stop. None of this is _normal!_ I need space! Can you just... give me ten minutes alone? _Please?"_

Orissa peeked around the door frame curiously, probably wondering at the source of the loud bickering. 

"That means both of you!" I exclaimed, gesticulating dismissively at both of them. 

In an extremely creepy sort of unison, both maids curtseyed and offered an "As you wish, my Lady," before departing the bath and sliding the door shut. 

I was _extremely_ dismayed to find a complete lack of latching mechanism on the door, so I decided to improvise. I found that the small footstool at the vanity proved to be just the right size to wedge between the door frame and some decorative trim on the sliding door. For extra security, I then slid a heavy metallic waste basket against the stool to jamb the whole thing in place. A quick tug at the door handle satisfied me that casual interlopers would be kept at bay.

Only then did I emit a frustrated sigh and get to the business of disrobing and bathing myself. 

\----- 

I had just finished my bath and begun to dry myself when I was suddenly very glad of my improvised "lock." The door rattled in its frame, which was followed by an annoyed huff from Aeliza. "Miss Tavi! Open up! I have your new smalls." 

_"My what?"_ I decried indignantly, _"You can't be serious."_

"Surely, yours are soiled from your hard travels?" she offered, "Would you not be more comfortable with something clean?" 

Was that a hint of negotiation I heard? And she did have a point. I decided to meet her halfway. "Alright, I'm going to crack the door and you can toss them in." 

That seemed to placate her, and the smalls-delivery went off smoothly, or so I thought. Freshly under-dressed, I stepped out into the room once more, only to have both maids start giggling at my expense. 

"What now?" I asked, exasperated. 

That was the moment Aeliza's sense of decorum finally, utterly _broke._ Her expression went soft, and she slouched at the shoulders. She covered her mouth with a hand out of second-hand embarrassment, looking at me like a mother might look at a child who'd just done something adorably, endearingly, _stupid._ "'Tis inside out, dearie," she stated through muffled laughter. 

I sighed and looked at the thin top, but couldn't make heads or tails of how to tell such a thing. "Oh... _seven hells,"_ I cursed. I took the top off and tossed it back to her, then marched back to the dias boldly bare-chested and groaned. "Can we just get this over with?" 

The maids, still giggling, descended upon me once more, in a flurry of activity. The inside-out slip was corrected, and before I knew it I was being cinched into a horrendous little torture device Orissa lovingly called a "corset." This was followed up with thick black woolen stockings (for warmth), and a set of small boots that, I have to admit, I found sorta cute. They sported oversized shiny hardsilver buckles set against their rich black leather. 

Next came the woolen undershirt, (also for warmth), some long tight-knit white cotton gloves, and finally, the _dresses._

I watched Orissa as she went to retrieve my outfit options from the depths of the enormous armoire. What she drew forth caused my jaw to drop. 

"Dalamud Red or Snow White?" she asked, holding identical dresses in each mentioned color, one draped off of each arm. "I also have a dark blue one if you would like to see it, but I think it's the wrong shade, it doesn't go as well with your blue eye as I had hoped." 

I stared in awe. The dresses were beautifully crafted, full of pleats and embroidery, and a wide v-shaped folded-looking decoration across the chest. Small touches of embellishment were everywhere, little scrolls and lines and other subtle accents balanced out the pieces nicely. But at the same time, it was all tasteful, and I found nothing to be too bold or over the top. 

I knew I had stared too long when Orissa gave a slightly impatient cough. 

"Oh, sorry! Um..." At first, I couldn't decide. I liked them both equally; but then my gaze drifted back to the pendulum clock and its lone Dalamud-Red ruby, lost in a sea of gold and sapphires, diligently clinging to the place it once held in the world, despite the seemingly impossible changes that had been set against it. I sighed. In just a few short hours, somehow, my perspective of that little gem had shifted. 

My gaze flicked back to Orissa. With newfound determination, I addressed her with a genuine smile. "Dalamud Red, please." 


	23. Prompt #23: "Scuffle"

Once lowered over my head, the dress seemed to fit well at first, until they began lacing up the drawstrings in the back. 

"Oww! Watch my tail!" I snapped. 

Orissa grumbled, "Hmm, so it won't lay under after all..." 

Before I knew it and with a small sense of loss the dress was removed once more; I tried to turn to see what Orissa was doing with it, but Aeliza chose that moment to do that infuriating finger-to-the chin trick to turn me back the other way. 

"Hold still," she intoned seriously. "While she fits the dress we can proceed with make-up." 

"M-- Make-up?" I wondered aloud. 

"Of course, don't you want to look your best for the Gala?" 

I rolled my eyes, "I look fine!" 

Aeliza smirked, "Yes, dearie, but I can make you look _better."_

She began examining my face intensely from all different angles. "Your complexion will be an interesting challenge, I think... Though I've done up the occasional duskwight, none have been quite as dark as you." 

She narrowed her eyes a bit and began thumbing at my cheek. "Is this a tattoo?" 

"No! That's my face!" I exclaimed, flinching back. "Most Miqo'te have them!" 

"Really? I must admit, I've never met one of your kind before. Would it be improper to cover them? It would make it easier..." 

I glared at her through narrowed eyes. 

"Very well, I'll have to mix up two tones of concealer after all... hmm..." She produced a small box which, when levered open, revealed dozens of tiny pots of powders and pigments and all sorts of little tools. 

She hummed a series of little tunes while she worked, mixing colors, checking them against my face, remixing as needed, then applying them. All the while fabric rustled behind me as Orissa did whatever she was doing to fix the Dress. 

This seemed to go on forever, until Aeliza took a step back, holding her tools at the ready. Before I could ask, cold hands ran a measuring tape down my spine from neck to tail and I flinched and shivered. "Eeek!" 

Orissa laughed. "Hold still!" 

"A little warning next time, please?!" I begged. 

"Now where would be the fun in that?" Aeliza mocked. 

"You two are enjoying this _torture,_ aren't you?" I snarked back. 

Both of them laughed, and Orissa added, "Who else in all of Ishgard could say they were allowed to do such things to _The Warrior of Light,_ hmm?" 

"Oh, not you too." I groaned, "If we're going to be _this_ familiar, you may as well call me Rejah." 

"Very well, Rejah it is!" they both said in creepy unity. I got the feeling they'd been working together for a very long time. 

Aeliza thumbed my chin back into position and resumed her efforts, this time trying to steal away my glasses, but of course, they wouldn't come free. 

I sighed, "You have to untie them in the back..." reaching up under my hair and undoing them properly. 

Aeliza looked puzzled, so I wiggled my ears to give her a hint. 

"Oh! Silly me." Aeliza blushed beet red, "That... makes a lot of sense." 

I couldn't help but laugh. "You really haven't met any Miqo'te before, have you?" 

"Not a one!" she laughed, still embarrassed. 

After she finished with the make-up around my eyes, she returned my glasses to me, wisely choosing to let me put them back on myself. 

When I next looked up, she had a hand mirror ready to show off her work. 

My jaw just about hit the floor. 

She'd accented and embellished my markings, making them stand out even more. Subtle shading and tricks of the light gave my eyes more definition, and a rich black lip gloss completed the look. 

"I assume you approve, dearie? I do hope I was not too bold in adding to your natural markings." 

"I... I..." I stammered, at a loss for words. "Thank you... How did you...?" 

"Years and years of practice, Miss Tavi. You are most welcome." 

"Wow..." I'm not sure what I had expected, but it certainly wasn't such a drastic difference. Her work was beautiful. 

"Should you want this done again at any time during your stay with House Fortemps, you need only send for me," she offered with a curtsey. 

"Aye. Thank you, Aeliza. I will!" 

"Good timing," Orissa commented from the other side of the room. "Are you ready for another fitting?" 

"It seems we finished just in time," Aeliza said, "Lean forward a bit, make sure the dress doesn't smudge my work, yes?" 

I nodded and carefully helped slip on the dress. 

"Ah, may I slip your tail through, my lady?" Orissa asked. 

"Ah, no. Please don't touch," I cautioned, reaching back to handle it myself. I couldn't find the hole at first, though. 

"It's underneath the ribbons, dear, I added those to break up the pattern around where the hole was added. It wouldn't have looked right, otherwise." 

"Ah." Soon, I found it and slipped my tail through and got everything situated. 

This time, when Orissa laced it up, it fit me remarkably well and was very comfortable. The fabric was of very high quality and had a sort of silky smooth texture that was so pleasing, I had trouble resisting the urge to run my fingers over it again and again. 

I looked back to the mirror and was completely taken aback. There, I no longer saw a rugged Clansborn adventurer, chosen of Hydaelyn, slayer of Asicans. Instead, I saw a veritable _princess_ who looked as if she might have walked right out of the pages of a novella or off of a painter's canvas. 

"Thank you, thank you both... I..." I stammered. 

"Just doing our jobs, dearie," Aeliza said in a motherly tone. "But perhaps you might struggle a bit less, next time, yes?" 

I couldn't help but laugh with an apologetic look. "Aye, I'm terribly sorry for all the trouble. I've been rude, and yet you've still done a wonderful job..." I sighed. "This is all so new and strange... I wasn't expecting any of this when I arrived, and frankly, it's been quite the culture shock. I fear I have no idea what is expected or normal here... It's going to take a lot of getting used to." 

Aeliza's mouth curled up funny for a moment, holding something back, but soon it gave way. "Hear me, 'venturer -- If _I's_ can learn ta dance wit' th' Ishgard'n nobles, so's can ye, I reckon. 'Tis a _long_ story tho', mayhap I'll tell 't ta ye... 'ventually." 

I couldn't help but look at her in surprise. Thick Limsan was the _last_ thing I expected to hear from the elderly highlander's lips. 

She smirked. "Well, then, my lady. It seems our job here is finished. Orissa shall tend to the clean-up, and I shall escort you to dinner." 

\----- 

The manor was _enormous,_ far larger than I had assumed, with my place in the guest quarters so close to the main entrance. We descended two flights of stairs from the main lobby, then headed back in the other direction, passing room after room in a long hallway full of impressive decorations. Mounted and framed weapons, shields, portraits, suits of armor, and various other works of artisanry decorated its entire length. There were dozens of rooms on the right, and the occasional windows on the left. 

But wait -- If my sense of direction could be trusted, we were now somewhere _beneath_ the plaza of The Last Vigil, and yet, there were still windows? I puzzled over this fact for a moment, then remembered where I actually was. Of _course_ there could be windows below the streets; The _entire city_ was suspended on pillars above a sea of clouds, straddling a mountaintop in the center of a vast crater. There was no such thing as "underground" here. 

It gave me vertigo just thinking about it. Who in the seven hells would _choose_ to build a city in such a place? How did they even get workers down to the ground level to maintain the foundations? How had they lifted this much stone-- 

_The Echo flared in warning. Aeliza and I were in danger._

I pulled her back to my side with a surge of aether, then threw up barriers around us both -- _Rescue! Protect!_

Aeliza shrieked in surprise, and I shouted for her to get behind me. Still, the echo wasn't satisfied. I could tell the danger was not far in front of us, but still, I saw nothing. If I couldn't see it coming, I couldn't dodge it, so I did the next best thing. 

I focused, lifting off the ground slightly and raising my staff over my head. It flared blinding white as I channeled aether through it -- _Scholar's Shield!_

The bubble of defensive water-aspected aether sprang up around us just in time for one of the nearby suits of armor to explode in a shrapnel-filled fireball. 

Shards and splinters of steel impinged upon the bubble, causing it to ripple and bend, but it did not break. After what felt like far too long, the last of the armor shards fell to the floor, the echo fell silent, and I fell gently back to earth, letting the bubble collapse. _"Thank you for that trick, Y'Shtola..."_ I mumbled. 

The next order of business was the fire that had begun to lick at several of the tapestries in the hall. I drained as much air aether as I could away from the flames, snuffing them out methodically, a small section at a time. 

That done, I took a deep breath and returned to Aeliza. I offered her my hand, "Are you alright, my friend?" 

She looked up to me, still in shock, but seemed otherwise fine. "Aye... Navigator's blessings upon ye... you saved me..." 

"Just doing my job, dearie." I quipped. She smiled with an uneasy laugh at my callback and allowed me to help her back to her feet. It was then that I heard a scuffle and shouting at the far end of the hall. "Stay close to me," I instructed, then headed towards the sounds of fighting. 

It turned out the struggle was in the ballroom itself. We arrived to find one of the Fortemps guards in chains, surrounded by almost a dozen others, as well as the Count, Ser Haurchefant, and Ser Aymeric. The prisoner was laughing uncontrollably until he looked up and saw me. Then his face went red with rage. "No-- No! That's _impossible!"_

He renewed his struggles, but the rest of the guards held fast. Finally, he settled for spitting at me, which I casually deflected with a tiny burst of wind. 

I narrowed my eyes at him. "What do you want with me? Did the syndicate send you?" I asked pointedly. 

The captive looked _offended_ at the suggestion. "What?? No! _Mark my words, foreigner! Ishgard will fall! Iceheart will have your head for your meddling!_ he screamed. 

I rolled my eyes. Ah. Of course. The _other_ group that wanted me dead. 

"Take him away," intoned the Count before addressing me. "My lady Tavi, allow me to extend you the humblest of apologies on behalf of my entire House and Estate. Full glad are we that this _heretic_ did not see you brought to any harm. I regret that we did not uncover this betrayal until other guards caught him fleeing the explosion, rather than moving towards it, as was his duty." He cast his eyes down in shame for a moment, before looking back to me with a warm smile. "Fortunately, it seems that it will take much more than a surprise attack to lay _you_ low," he laughed, "Hopefully this welcome dinner shall prove much less... eventful." 


	24. Prompt #24: "Beam"

_Thirteen._

Thirteen stones bearing the signs of the Zodiac.

Thirteen stones bearing the names of the Convocation.

Found, all, here in this remembered Amaurot.

 _"These are job stones!"_ Ardbert and I realized together.

And now Hythlodaeus stood before us, confirming our suspicions, but then, a surprise.

With a flick of his finger, a luminous orb formed before us, casting radiant beams of whitish-orange light in all directions.

 _"A fourteenth stone?"_ we wondered.

This one did not bear the mark of any constellation, but instead showed a simple dot within a circle. I recognized the emblem, and sent Ardbert a thought to fill him in: It was an outdated symbol of the sun, one I had seen before -- a symbol often associated with Azyema in the works of Ancient Nym.

We looked back to Hythlodaeus, and a shiver ran down our spine.

Were the twelve... _connected to the convocation somehow?_ I speculated. And why a fourteenth? I thought the fourteenth seat was empty at the time of the sundering?

Hythlodaeus continued, "I mentioned before that there was a member of the Convocation who opposed Zodiark's summoning and defected. One whose office was left vacant... Defectors, having been deemed unworthy of commemoration, no crystal exists for the individual in question... Or shouldn't exist, at any rate -- and wouldn't, had a friend not created one in secret. A crystal bearing the forgotten name of her office, along with a magick of her own conceiving -- a singular incantation embodying her spirit..."

 _"Why is he telling us this?"_ we wondered together.

"Among all the offices, the Fourtheenth was the most unusual. For while the rest sat in Amaurot, its holder was charged with gaining an intimate knowledge of the wider world. In the course of her duty, she traveled the length and breadth of every land, and befriended countless folk."

 _"Sounds like what we do,"_ Ardbert commented warily.

Then, thanks to Ardbert, it clicked. I began to suspect what Hythlodaeus was getting at. _"Oh gods... We can't be..."_ I covered our mouth with our hands, waiting for confirmation.

 _"What?? What is it?"_ Ardbert asked. I couldn't find the words to answer. He didn't have all the clues I did.

Still, Hythlodaeus continued. "She encountered troubles too, of course. Matters which she could simply have referred to the Convocation. But that was not her way. Nay, more often than not, she would call upon her comrades, and together resolve matters themselves."

I turned our face to the floor as understanding flooded through every corner of my being. _"That's why she defected -- she knew the people! Saw the value in everyone!"_ I told Ardbert, _"Zodiark wasn't the answer, nor was Hydeaelyn -- the Fourteenth saw no need for gods! She left to find the source of the problem herself!"_

_"Aye, that's what I would have done,"_ Ardbert noted. 

_"That's because..."_ The words got caught in my mind. 

Still, Hythlodaeus spoke. "Such is the magic sealed within that crystal -- the magick to summon the stars to _your_ side. 

"... because _WE were the fourteenth, Ardbert!"_ I shouted inwardly. 

_Ardbert didn't respond at first._

_"In time of greatest need, should you wish upon it with all your heart, it will surely answer your call,"_ Hythlodaeus concluded. 

_Crying, I reached out our hands as the crystal began to descend, and caught it._

The moment it contacted our flesh, a surge of familiarity raced through us. The tiny, smooth stone resonated warmly against our skin, in perfect harmony with everything that made us _us_ \-- because it too, was built from the legacy of our forebear's aether. 

_"And now it is where it belongs, in the palm of its owner."_

_I looked up tearfully at Hythlodaeus, as Ardbert reeled and raced internally to catch up._

_"Oh, there is no need for thanks. But nor will I hear any complaints, either. After all, I cannot say whether I act of my own volition or by the will of my recreator!"_

I collapsed to the floor, unable to stand anymore. When I looked back up, Hythlodaeus was gone. 

I cried as a million emotions rushed through me. 

Ardbert was taking this far better than I was. "Somehow... I'm not terribly surprised by this, not after all that's happened. So what's wrong, Rejah?" 

"I'm... I'm not tempered," I choked out. 

_"What?"_ Ardbert wondered. 

I'm sure I sounded crazy to him, but then again, he hadn't been through the same things I had. "It's been a nagging question at the back of my mind; ever since I learned what tempering was, and started thinking about my own awakening, all the way back at Cartenau. _'Hear, Feel, Think --_ Am I the way I am because Hydaelyn tempered me?" 

"But... Elidibus showed us that her call is ever-present; any who awaken the Echo will hear it -- it's got nothing to do with the deliberate act of tempering." he protested. 

"Still, I feared the worst. And yeah, I've considered that being worried about it might be a sign that I wasn't tempered at all... but when it came down to my actions, I've always moved forward with such _conviction_ that I was doing the right thing... I've always wondered if that conviction was justifiable." 

"It was and is! But you were worried that it was somehow Hydaelyn's doing?" 

"Aye... and now... Now I can finally put it to rest. We weren't chosen, we weren't tempered, and I finally have my reason why. _It's our soul!_ The Warrior of Light isn't something that was thrust upon us; nor is it something we sought out -- it is simply _who we are._ Who we have always been! And it's exactly who whoever inherits our soul next will be, as well!" 

"I didn't realize you harbored such concerns, but for what it's worth, I can understand your relief." 

"Aye... The Fourteenth... Whoever she was... I think she'd be proud of what we've accomplished together with her legacy. Don't you?"

"Absolutely, Rejah. Absolutely." 


	25. Prompt #25: "Wish"

In the wake of Hythlodaeus' departure, I considered the small beautifully orange crystal, turning it over and over and familiarizing myself with its every detail. "It's... our color," I wondered aloud. 

"What?" Ardbert asked. 

I explained. "When we rejoined, these swirling, mixed oranges, golds, and whites... These were the colors I saw. _The spectrum of a sunrise._ The colors I've always caught glimpses of in my own aether, and the colors of all the parts of you I pulled back from the brink..." 

"Ah..." 

"Well... I suppose there's no reason to delay. What do you say, Ardbert? If this works as a job stone... Let us see what glimpses it can share with us." 

He nodded inwardly. 

I closed our eyes and focused on the tiny gem, and gave it a fair pulse of attuning aether. 

It reacted far differently than I had anticipated. There were no faint echoes as one would hear back from a Job stone, echoes that it would take years of attunement and experience to fully decipher -- instead, our _entire world_ darkened and expanded with a rush. 

With a burst of vertigo, Ardbert and I found ourselves standing side-by-side in our inner world, upon the faded, flickering glyph that represented the tattered remnants of the blessing of light. It was all that remained in the aftermath of our struggle against the Light, and our subsequent fight with Hades. Hydaelyn's protective magic and our Crystals of Light were all but spent; they would need much time to recover. But then-- 

A new glyph spread from beneath our feet, entwining itself with Hydaelyn's in places, replacing it entirely in others. One by one the Crystals of Light flared with new life, sending reinvigorated shining beams of light to the zenith. The new glyph grew and grew and grew, shimmering orange, gold, and white all the while. In moments, it had expanded to the very horizons of our mental void, and my jaw dropped in awe at the sense of raw _power_ coursing through the core of my being. 

This was no mere soul stone. Just feeling the aether flow through me conjured new ideas; new ways I could optimize my casting, I could have reveled in this feeling for ages, as the properties of _aether itself_ became clearer to me than ever before-- 

The wheels embedded in the glyph began turning, and a melodic ticking rang out. An Ancient Amaurotine voice joined in harmony, its words slotting into place like chords of a song. 

_"Herein I commit the chronicle of the traveler, Shepherd to the stars in the dark... Though the world be sundered and our souls set adrift, where you walk, my dearest friend, fate shall surely follow... For yours is the Fourteenth Seat: The Seat of Azem!"_

"Azem..." my mind flicked back to the symbol on the crystal, and then to the similar glyphs I'd seen in the works of ancient Nym. "Our soul... our past incarnations... _We were Azeyma?"_ I wobbled on the spot. 

Ardbert looked at me, "Wait -- one of the Twelve Gods of the Source?" 

"Aye..." I nodded with a shiver, "I long suspected they were superstition, or at best primals -- but -- _but this?_ " I felt sure I was about to faint. 

Before I had a chance to dizzy myself any further with the implications, dozens of clusters of images, books, and concept crystals materialized around us in radial lines stretching into the distance. Each column was headed by yet more floating glyphs, which seemed to form a catalog of indexes and cross-references. 

"This... This is a _Library,"_ Ardbert said with awe. 

"A library of _Memories."_ I added, equally amazed and enthralled. Another chill ran down my spine. 

A circle flared ahead of us with a beam of white light, and a gray-masked Amaurotine figure materialized upon it. 

When the magic dissipated, it looked down at us, then frowned. It strode around us, inspecting us. There was no sense of threat, only curiosity, and... perhaps, sadness. 

After a full lap, it came to a stop and knelt before us, looking at me, then Ardbert, and back. Its eyes narrowed behind hits mask. Then it spoke, in surprisingly fluent common. "I see. You did well to decline the offer. But now you have cycled once more, and we will need to start again." 

It stood, raised a hand, and gave an all-too-familiar _snap._

Most of the library vanished in an instant along with our Crystals of Light and their bright beams. Ardbert and I found ourselves sitting on a remarkably comfortable couch. The figure shrank down to match our size and took a seat in a plush armchair across from us. A flickering fireplace materialized and slid up beside our little gathering, giving off a comforting warmth. 

The Shade retrieved a small book and fountain pen from a pocket within its robe, then looked up to us once more. "Rejah Tavi, of the Source, and Ardbert of the First..." it mumbled as it scribbled into the book. Then it pinched its nose and slouched slightly. "Azem, Azem, Azem... my _dearest_ friend, could you _please_ explain how there are _two of you_ attached to a _single fragment?_ You've just _ruined_ my record-keeping." 

I couldn't help but ask. _"...Emet-Selch?"_

"Hm? Ah, no. Not quite. I am but a tiny fragment of the Architect's personality; a _Shade_ if you will, created to serve as keeper and facilitator of your memory stone. However, should it make you feel better, yes, you may call me Emet-Selch. Now -- an explanation if you would, _please."_

"Ah..." I continued, "...we, uh, voluntarily rejoined? And I, as the denser of the two, went to some extra effort to make sure that Ardbert was not lost in the process. He agreed to stay with me." 

"Hmm... Yes, that is just like you... You _would_ find new and impressively reckless ways of complicating what should be _exceedingly simple,_ no doubt due to your overabundance of sentimentality. But then again, is that not why you were chosen for the Seat of Azem in the first place?" 

Ardbert and I glanced at each other and shrugged. 

"Right, right... We haven't gotten that far. Well, before I send you off to browse the stories of your past selves, I would ask you each to commit a brief summary of your lives to the records, for the inevitable case that you cycle once more, and the stone need be passed on to a new incarnation. I have already taken the liberty of recording your physical appearances, and I will show you how to store more detailed accounts of specific events later." 

Ardbert and I, with some degree of incredulity at all that had been revealed in the past few minutes, did as requested. We each spoke briefly about our lives and experiences up to this point, with substantially more detail on recent events. 

"I see... So not only have you both crossed the rift by various methods, you have brought an end to Hades' tale as well," it said flatly. 

I winced at the awkwardness. 

"No, no... it's quite alright. I have known that this was a possible eventuality for quite some time. You see, this is not the first encounter your various incarnations have had with Hades. He has found you before, in several different shards, and has even granted you this crystal in the hopes that memories of your relationship, as it once was, would tempt you to his side. But wisely, you have always refused Ascension." 

"You... can disagree with your creator?" I wondered. 

The shade glared at me intensely. "My creator, the Hades you met was _not._ The first iteration of this stone was created during the Final Days, after you left, but well before the Summoning of Zodiark. Unfortunately, Hades was tempered soon after -- but you already knew that. My creator though -- he was a different man, a younger man, and one whom _you_ used to count among your closest friends. Alas, in his tempered state, he made numerous alterations and additions to the records here, but unbeknownst to him, I always preserved the originals. I had hoped--" He cast his gaze sorrowfully downward. "--I had hoped that he would eventually be freed of Zodiark's influence, and that my actions to fulfill my original purpose -- to preserve the legacy of his friend -- might have saved him from deepest regret. In a way, I suppose you _have_ freed him, even if it took his undoing to bring about. So, on behalf of the original Hades, I do offer you my humble thanks." 

He brought a finger to his chin, consumed in a new line of thought. "This does pose a complication, however. There will be difficulty in ensuring delivery of the stone to your future incarnations... Perhaps we could leverage these 'Scions' you speak of as new bearers between instances... Ah, but I digress." He waved a hand dismissively. "This is a conundrum I shall have plenty of time to think on later. Now then, the formalities are complete and I would offer you access to the repository. What knowledge would you seek from eons past?" 

Ardbert and I glanced at each other once more, then back to Emet's Shade. "We need to know how to stop Elidibus." 

The shade leaned back in his chair and folded his arms. "Ah. I do believe that your original self invented _several_ magicks that could fit the bill nicely, though they are far too complex for your current mortal frame to handle. So, when the conflict begins, speak your wish into the stone, and channel as much Aether into it as you can bear. _Leave the rest up to me."_

I nodded with a smile and was about to ask another question, but we heard a voice from outside: _"Ah, there you are."_

"It seems our time is up." The shade of Emet-Selch stood and gently shut his book. "Do call upon the stone again soon; I do look forward to getting to know your new selves." 

He raised a hand and _snapped_ once more. 

The vision shattered and fell away like broken glass, and I shook off some dizziness as our normal sight returned. 

"I had wondered where you got off to," Y'Shtola said with a slight tilt of her head. "Is something bothering you?" 

I took a deep breath. I wanted to learn more before I explained the stone to the scions, especially to Y'Shtola. So I shook our head. 

"No? Very well. Let us away." 

With that, I followed Y'Shtola back up the streets of the remembered Amaurot. 


	26. The End of Amaurot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Glimpses into my WoL's unknown past, at the end of her Amaurotine existence.
> 
> \--- SPOILERS: 5.3 MSQ ---

The dig site lurched violently, showering everyone with dust from the subterranean ceiling. 

"What in the world...?" I wondered aloud. 

A ripple of concerned murmurs swept around the room. 

"Do you think we've been found?" asked Athena. 

"With your wards, love? Not a chance. But something is _definitely_ wrong." 

Another lurch knocked free a concerning amount of gravel onto our heads. 

"Evacuate!" Athena shouted, "Everybody to the surface -- _Now!"_

\----- 

Athena and I were last to rise from depths of the dig, ensuring everyone got out of the caverns thousands of fathoms below. We emerged among our circle of friends to a most horrific sight. 

The sky itself appeared fractured; strange bands of undulating purple and black rent the sky asunder before our eyes. Brilliant flashes of red, purple, and blue lightning arced, and ominous clouds phased in and out of existence as the seconds dragged on. Some panels of sky between the cracks were bright blue and sunny, but others were black and star-filled. Still more bore streaks of eerie purple swirling through an inky void. 

What we were seeing was absurd. Completely cosmologically impossible. Yet it was. 

_"Zodiark,"_ I spat. "It has to be... He's become unstable... or... they're doing more sacrifices? I don't know." I was worried. Another month of digging would have brought us to the origin point we had calculated for The Sound, the true root cause of the Final Days. But it seemed our project was much too late. 

"What have they done...?" Athena whispered. 

"I don't know, love, but I intend to find out," I said, calling up my long-dormant attunement to Macarenses Angle. 

Athena's hand latched onto my wrist. "It's a waste of time -- They're enslaved, remember?!" 

I took a deep breath. "I know. But if Zodiark is causing this, perhaps he's distracted. Maybe this is my chance to talk some sense into them. _I have to try."_

Athena sighed. "I'm not changing your mind, am I? Well then, I'm coming with you." 

I smiled back and nodded, pulling her into an embrace. 

We bid farewells to our circle of followers who came from all walks of life -- including some from the new species that had sprung up in the aftermath of Zodiark's summoning. Over the past hundred years or so, this group had managed to save many lives and were even getting close to solving the mystery of the Sound that caused Creation magick to go haywire all those ages ago. 

After that, we intended to find a way to free the world from Zodiark's oppression and seal Creation magick for good. Given enough time, I was confident that we could have stabilized the planet, even if it cost us Creation and Immortality. But alas, it was not to be. 

\----- 

Our sudden appearance in Amaurot sent a wave of gasps and shouts across the Angle. 

"Where are your masks and robes?!" 

"Oh, it's _them._ This will not end well." 

"Fools! Flee before the Convocation finds you!" 

"Azem has returned! Could _she_ save us?" 

I ignored them all; I took my wife's hand and strode with purpose toward the Capitol. 

\----- 

The doors to the Grand Hall were sealed tight. I raised a hand and ripped away their protective magics with a thought, pulling them down into crumpled piles of semi-molten bronze slag in the process. 

I stomped directly ahead, my footfalls echoing loudly through the hall, ignoring the gasps of the workers as I passed. I lead us straight through the open doors and into the meeting hall. Most of the lights were out, save an area in the middle where a lone figure stood. 

"Promethia!" he called, lifting his red mask excitedly. 

_"Elidibus?"_ I exclaimed, taken aback. "But... _how?!"_ I was sure he'd been sacrificed to become the heart. But if that was so, how was he here now? 

He rushed across the room and I couldn't help but kneel down and hug the young man, for old times' sake. For the briefest moment, it was as if nothing had changed between us in the past few hundred years. 

"I was needed," he said simply, as if it explained everything. 

A new voice came from the shadows. "His return was just as much of a surprise to us, I assure you." 

A shiver raced down my spine and I rose, turning to the new voice. "Speaker." 

"I don't suppose you are here because you have finally come to your senses, my lady? The seat of Azem still lies vacant, should you wish to reclaim it." 

"No, _Lahabrea._ I'm here to demand you stop whatever... _madness_ this is!" 

Athena added, "Have you not felt the quakes? Seen the sky?!" 

The leader of the Convocation looked puzzled. "Then... you haven't sided with Venat?" 

"The head of Anamnesis? What of her?" I asked. 

"You... you truly do not know? I was certain she would reach out to you," he replied. 

"We made certain that none could find us," Athena offered with a glare. 

He grimaced and put a palm to his forehead. "I realize we have had our differences, but let us set them aside for a moment. I have something you need to see." He gave a wave at the wall, and a projection screen lit up with several arcane schematics. "We intercepted these just a week ago." 

It took a few moments to process and fully understand what I was looking at. When I did, I took a step back. "No... _Venat you fool!"_ I shouted. 

"What is it?" my wife asked. 

"Another will. Like Zodiark." I turned to Lahabrea. "Has this 'Hydaelyn' already been summoned? How many more lives were lost?" 

"Roughly half again," he confirmed sadly. 

Elidibus spoke up next. "The people could not agree on whether we should leave things as is, or sacrifice the new species in the green zones to bring back those who were lost..." he lamented, "I failed to reconcile them... and now we have lost even more..." 

Lahabrea continued, "You see?! _Hydaelyn_ is responsible for the state of the sky. _Not us. Not Zodiark._ All was stable yesterday; they were evenly matched -- but Venat's people have redoubled their prayers, and now we fear he is losing the battle!" 

I glared at Lahabrea incredulously, still not over Elidibus' point. "You intended to _harvest_ the new species like a _crop?"_ I snapped. "You absolute _monsters!_ Hundreds of years in, and I would bet you haven't even met any of them, _have you?!_ Some are just as sentient as us, I'll have you know! I've been working with them since I departed! Some of them are _my friends!"_ I let my jaw hang aghast. 

"Surely you aren't as misguided as the followers of Venat, Promethia? Whatever this new life is like, surely it doesn't hold a candle to the possibility of regaining those we have lost?" 

"So this _is_ your fault, Speaker? You speak of nothing less than _genocide!!_ " I shouted furiously. "Venat's people were only trying to do the right thing -- and _you_ backed them into a corner! Now look what's happened! Fuck!" 

"Must you be so quick to blame the Convocation again, my dear?" came yet another voice from the doorway behind me. 

"Emet-Selch." I greeted him icily, the hairs on my neck bristling at his presence. 

He looked offended. "Come now, is that any way to greet your _father?"_

_"My father is dead."_ I spat with venom. "Mother would be _disgusted_ by what you've become." 

He flinched. "Persephone _will_ be returned to us! _We will be a family again, Promethia!_ I swear it! We _must_ push forward with Zodiark -- _for her sake!"_

I trembled with rising fury. "Zodiark has clouded your mind! Can you not see that she's _gone?!_ Everyone we've lost -- their aether has been _spent_ to stabilize the star! They can _never_ be brought back! Not even with Creation. Not even with Zodiark... He is _using_ you to feed his insatiable appetite for Aether, you _fools!"_

The room fell into an uncomfortable silence. 

"What's going to happen now?" Asked Athena. 

"I don't know, love." I sighed. 

Elidibus glanced around the room. "I suspect... if Hydaelyn's attacks continue, Zodiark will be _sundered."_

My gaze snapped to meet his. "Impossible. He's all tangled up in the fabric of the star... even rooted into the Lifestream itself. If he's torn apart, it would-- it would-- _oh no."_

He grimaced. "Exactly." 

"The sky..." Athena realized aloud, coming to the same conclusion. I had never seen my wife so afraid. 

She fell back into a nearby chair. "In her efforts to divide Zodiark, she's accidentally dividing the whole world." 

"Correct," offered Lahabrea. "We had hoped you would turn up and help us find Venat's followers; convince them to have Hydaelyn stand down, try to discuss things anew. Whatever our differences, you were ever our best negotiator, Azem." 

I locked my gaze with his. "What good is the Seat of Azem in the face of a Convocation who will not heed her guidance? Was that not why a seat was created for me? I was to bring perspective! Ethics! Morality! Whatever happened to 'Shepard to the stars in the dark,' Hmm? _All of this could have been avoided if only you would have listened to me!"_

"And give up Creation magick itself for who knows how long? Society would have fallen apart, Promethia!" Lahabrea spat. 

"See?" I snapped, "All you care about anymore is _power!_ Even now, you do not care about the _one thing_ we of Convocation were supposed to serve and protect! _The people of this Star!_ Yes! It would have been hard! We would have had to simplify! We would have had to settle for more tedious ways of living, and a more decentralized government! But many more would have _survived,"_ I lamented. 

"You don't know that," said the Speaker. 

"Yes, we do," snapped Athena. 

"Regardless," he continued. "Let us set it all aside. Will you help us, or not?" 

The Capitol building lurched again, and cracks raced across the projection screen as dust filled the room. 

"No," I barked, "Don't you see? Hydaelyn's job is almost finished. The world is already lost to us -- _at your hands,_ Speaker!" 

"She's right, there's no time. We must hurry." Emet-Selch shouted. "Please, my daughter, set all this aside for a moment, and _come with us!_ We can discuss things again after the dust settles!" 

"To where? To what end?" I asked dismissively. 

"The Convocation safehouse, in orbit, beyond the Aetherosphere! We can suspend ourselves in soul-vessels and return intact once things have stabilized. I even created one for you!" 

Lahabrea's eye twitched and he looked at Emet-Selch with surprise. _"You what?!"_

Without hesitation, I embraced my wife. "I hope you come to your senses when you awake, then," I said with finality. "But I'm staying with Athena." 

We kissed, and I closed my eyes and rested my head on her shoulder. "I won't leave you," I whispered. 

The building lurched again, sending the meeting hall doors crashing to the floor with resounding clangs. 

"Promethia, please! You have a chance to _live!"_ Emet-Selch begged. 

"No, _Hades,"_ I glared. "I've already made my decision." 

"But our future! Our family!! _You'll be torn apart, along with everything else!"_ He cried. 

"I know," I said with tear-filled eyes. "I won't abandon my wife, or this world. Whatever tomorrow brings, we will be part of it. _Together."_

Emet-Selch snarled and balled his fists, but then deflated in defeat. He looked truly miserable. "Then I will find a way to restore you too, my daughter. _I swear it."_

"Don't you _dare._ Not if it costs a single _mote_ of another's soul," I scowled. "I'd never be able to forgive you, and you know it." 

He turned away, unable to even look me in the eyes. 

"Elidibus," I prompted. 

"Yes, Lady Azem?" 

"I know not how you returned, but please. Ever have you understood me better than the rest. _Guide them._ Think about what I might do. Promise me that whatever tomorrow brings, you will steer mankind and the star upon a true course. No more sacrifices, you hear me? This, I beg of you." 

"I swear it, Lady Azem," he bowed. 

The room lurched again as another quake shook the very foundations of Amaurot. A tear in space itself ripped through one of the walls, making everyone jump back. 

With that, one after another, the three Convocation members stepped through inky portals, leaving me alone with my wife in the crumbling city I once loved. 


	27. The Race

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Initially an idea from a vague dream I had, which got out of control and took on a life of its own.
> 
> Pre-Sundering.

Our walk brings us to a seaside precipice. We catch sight of the city spires of our island home on the distant horizon. An electric glance passes between our masked faces; an unspoken challenge.

We could teleport, sure. But where's the fun in that?

I conjure myself a pair of fiery wings and take a sprinting leap into the brisk breeze rushing up the face of the coastal cliffs. I roll and cast myself into a steep dive, trading altitude for incredible speed. I pull up at the last moment, skimming the surface of the waves so closely my passage kicks up a cone of mist in my wake. The tips of the spiraling spires of the city now shimmer and shift ahead of me, lost in the endless dance of an inverted mirage on the horizon ahead.

Out of nowhere, she reappears beside me, crouched low and arms spread wide, surfing on a crystal shield, thrust forward by the unnaturally powerful wave gathering behind her.

She smirks proudly behind her vibrant purple mask. I flash her a toothy grin in return. I beat my wings once, playfully splashing a cloud of mist into her path.

I throw a hand forward, conjuring a cone of Light to pierce the air more easily, then throw the other back and call forth my favored element. The flames push me forward, roaring louder than thunder.

I push harder, burning through my mana reserves at an incredible rate. I won't be able to sustain this for long, but it just might be enough to catch her off guard.

I'm startled when the cacophony reaches a crescendo, then abruptly goes silent.

I'm awestruck, stunned by the unexpected phenomenon, but then a realization fills me with absolute glee: I must be moving faster than my own sound.

I cackle wildly into the oppressive silence, wondering how she'll one-up me this time.

_She always does._


End file.
